- George Atwood
George Atwood (October 1745–
July 11 ,1807 ) was an Englishmathematician who invented a machine for illustrating the law of uniformly accelerated motion. He was also a renownedchess player whose skill for recording many games of his own and of other players, includingFrançois-André Danican Philidor , the leading master of his time, left a valuable historical record for future generations.Atwood was born in
Westminster , with the date remaining unknown, but presumed to have been shortly before his baptism onOctober 15 ,1745 . He attendedWestminster School and in 1759 was elected to a scholarship atTrinity College, Cambridge . He graduated in 1769 with the rank of third wrangler and was awarded the inaugural firstSmith's Prize . Subsequently he became a fellow and a tutor of the college and in 1776 was elected a fellow of theRoyal Society ofLondon .In 1784 he left Cambridge and soon afterwards received from
William Pitt the Younger the office of patent searcher of the customs, which required but little attendance, enabling him to devote a considerable portion of his time to mathematics and physics.George Atwood died in Westminster at the age of 61.
Over a century later, a
lunar crater was renamed Atwood in his honour.elected publications
Atwood's published works, exclusive of papers contributed to the
Philosophical Transactions , for one of which he obtained theCopley Medal , are as follows:
* "Analysis of a Course of Lectures on the Principles of Natural Philosophy" (Cambridge, 1784).
* "Treatise on the Rectilinear Motion and Rotation of Bodies" (Cambridge, 1784), which gives some interesting experiments, by means of which mechanical truths can be ocularly exhibited and demonstrated, and describes the machine, since named after Atwood, for verifying experimentally the laws of simple acceleration of motion.
* "Review of the Statutes and Ordinances ofAssize which have been established inEngland from the 4th year of King John, 1202, to the 37th of his present Majesty" (London, 1801), a work of some historical research.
* "Dissertation on the Construction and Properties of Arches" (London, 1801).
* Chess games recorded by Atwood were published posthumously by George Walker in London in 1835, under the name "Selection of Games at Chess, actually played by Philidor and his Contemporaries".personal infname:georgeExternal links
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NAME= Atwood, George
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DATE OF BIRTH=1745
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DATE OF DEATH=1807
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