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His first paper in 1865 was on Maxwell's electromagnetic theory. He worked on propogation of sound and, while on an excursion to Egypt taken for health reasons, Strutt wrote Treatise on Sound (1870-1). In 1879 he wrote a paper on travelling waves, this theory has now developed into the theory of solitons. His theory of scattering (1871) was the first correct explanation of why the sky is blue.
In 1873 he succeeded to the title of Baron Rayleigh. From 1879 to 84 he was the second Cavendish professor of experimental physics at Cambridge succeeding Maxwell. Then in 1884 he became secretary of the Royal Society. Rayleigh discovered the inert gas argon in 1895, work which earned him a Nobel Prize, in 1904.
He was awarded the De Morgan Medal of the London Mathematical Society in 1890 and was president of the Royal Society between 1905 and 1908. He became chancellor of Cambridge University in 1908.
References (8 books/articles)
References elsewhere in this archive:
John W Strutt (Rayleigh) was elected to the Royal Society of London
in 1873. You can see a history
of the Royal Society and a list
of the members among the mathematicians in our archive.
He was awarded the Royal Medal of the Royal Society in 1882 and the
Copley Medal in1899. You can see a history
of the Royal Medal and a list of the winners in our archive and a history
of the Copley Medal and a list of the winners.
He was the Royal Society's Bakerian lecturer in 1902. You can see a history of the Bakerian Lectures and a list of the lecturers.
Lord Rayleigh was the London Mathematical Society President in 1876
- 1878. You can see a history
of the LMS and a list
of the presidents.
He was the winner of the London Mathematical Society De Morgan Medal
in 1890. You can see a history
of the LMS De Morgan Medal and a list of the winners.
There is a Crater Rayleigh on the moon. You can see a list of lunar features named after mathematicians.
There is also a Crater Rayleigh on Mars. You can see a list of planetary features named after mathematicians.
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