George Atwood

George Atwood (baptized October 15, 1745 in London , † July 11, 1807 in Westminster , London) was an English physicist and inventor.

Live and act

Atwood was the eldest son of Reverend Thomas Atwood and his wife Isabella. He attended the Trinity College of Cambridge University , where he received his doctorate and a Fellow took on teaching duties. In 1776 he became a member of the Royal Society . In 1784 he published the textbook A Treatise on the Rectilinear Motion , in which he describes Atwood's falling machine named after him , a device for demonstrating the laws of the free fall of bodies, and a book on the principles of physics under the title An analysis of a course of lectures on the principles of natural philosophy .

In his free time he played chess . He was a student of Philidor with whom he played numerous games, 14 of which have survived. Atwood's notes served as the basis of George Walker 's book A selection of games at chess, actually played by Philidor and his Contemporaries , published in 1835 .

Atwood was also the private secretary of William Pitt , the then Prime Minister. He had a brother James Atwood (1758-1810), who also attended Trinity College and went to India as chaplain of the East India Company for St Thomas' Mount and Poonamallee. and a brother Reverend Thomas Alexander Atwood (1764–1805)

Awards and honors

1769 Smith Prize
1796 Copley Medal

The Atwood lunar crater is named after him.

literature

Atwood, George . In: Encyclopædia Britannica . 11th edition. tape 2 : Andros - Austria . London 1910, p. 888 (English, full text [ Wikisource ]).
Atwood, George . In: John Archibald Venn (Ed.): Alumni Cantabrigienses . A Biographical List of All Known Students, Graduates and Holders of Office at the University of Cambridge, from the Earliest Times to 1900. Part 2: From 1752 to 1900 , Volume 1 : Abbey – Challis . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1940, pp. 98 ( venn.lib.cam.ac.uk Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).

Web links

Entry to Atwood; George (1746–1807) in the Archives of the Royal Society , London

Individual evidence

^ The Man Who Saved Philidor. Chess.com, May 31, 2015.
↑ Atwood, James [Estcourt] . In: John Archibald Venn (Ed.): Alumni Cantabrigienses . A Biographical List of All Known Students, Graduates and Holders of Office at the University of Cambridge, from the Earliest Times to 1900. Part 2: From 1752 to 1900 , Volume 1 : Abbey – Challis . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1940, pp. 98 ( venn.lib.cam.ac.uk Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
^ Atwood family. Westminster Abbey, accessed April 28, 2019 .

personal data
SURNAME	Atwood, George
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	English physicist and inventor
DATE OF BIRTH	baptized October 15, 1745
PLACE OF BIRTH	London
DATE OF DEATH	July 11, 1807
Place of death	Westminster , London

[1] The Man Who Saved Philidor. Chess.com, May 31, 2015.

[2] Atwood, James [Estcourt] . In: John Archibald Venn (Ed.): Alumni Cantabrigienses . A Biographical List of All Known Students, Graduates and Holders of Office at the University of Cambridge, from the Earliest Times to 1900. Part 2: From 1752 to 1900 , Volume 1 : Abbey – Challis . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1940, pp. 98 ( venn.lib.cam.ac.uk Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).

[3] Atwood family. Westminster Abbey, accessed April 28, 2019 .