Silvanus P. Thompson

Silvanus P. Thompson
Photograph from Thompson's obituary in the Proceedings of the Royal Society[1]
Born
Silvanus Philips Thompson

19 June 1851
York, England
Died12 June 1916 (1916-06-13) (aged 64)
London, England
EducationUniversity of London (BA, DSc)
Royal School of Mines (BS)
Known forCalculus Made Easy (1910)
Invention of the permeameter
Scientific career
FieldsPhysics
Electrical engineering
InstitutionsUniversity College, Bristol

British Institute of Radiology
Signature

Silvanus Phillips Thompson FRS (19 June 1851 – 12 June 1916) was an English professor of physics at the City and Guilds Technical College in Finsbury, England. He was elected to the Royal Society in 1891 and was known for his work as an electrical engineer and as an author. Thompson's most enduring publication is his 1910 text Calculus Made Easy, which teaches the fundamentals of infinitesimal calculus, and is still in print.[2] Thompson also wrote a popular physics text, Elementary Lessons in Electricity and Magnetism,[3] as well as biographies of Lord Kelvin and Michael Faraday.

  1. ^ Thompson's obituary in Proceedings of the Royal Society A, 1917–1918, vol. 94, pp xvi–xix. See also Silvanus Thompson, His Life and Letters, Unwin, London, 1920 by Thompson and Thompson
  2. ^ The original version is now in the public domain. A new edition has been updated and edited by Martin Gardner.
  3. ^ Silvanus Phillips Thompson, radiology and the Röntgen Society by Adrian M K Thomas, British Society for the History of Radiology, Department of Radiology, Princess Royal University Hospital, Orpington, Kent BR6 8ND