GREEN, GEORGE

born July 14, 1793, Sneinton, Nottinghamshire, Eng. died March 31, 1841, Sneinton English mathematician who was first to attempt to formulate a mathematical theory of electricity and magnetism. His work in this field heralded the beginning of modern mathematical physics in Great Britain. He was a baker before he became a mathematician, through his own studies. That he was self-taught may perhaps explain his unusual methods of solving physical problems. In his Essay on the Application of Mathematical Analysis to the Theory of Electricity and Magnetism (1828), Green generalized and extended the electric and magnetic investigations of the French mathematician Simon Poisson. Green's memoir introduced the term "potential" and what is now known as Green's theorem, which is widely applied in the study of the properties of magnetic and electric field potential. His essay was practically unknown until William Thomson (later Lord Kelvin) had it reprinted in 1846. In 1832 and 1833 Green published papers on the laws of equilibrium of fluids, on attractions in n-dimensional space, and on the motion of a fluid agitated by vibrations of a solid ellipsoid. At the age of 40 he entered the University of Cambridge, from which he graduated (1837) fourth highest in his class in mathematics. He was elected to a fellowship at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, in 1839.