C.V. Boys
Encyclopedia
Sir Charles Vernon Boys, FRS (15 March 1855 – 30 March 1944) was a British
physicist
, known for his careful and innovative experimental work.
Boys was the eighth child of the Reverend Charles Boys, the Anglican
vicar of Wing, Rutland
. He was educated at Marlborough College
and the Royal School of Mines
, where he learned physics from Frederick Guthrie
and taught himself higher mathematics while completing a degree in mining
and metallurgy
. As a student at the School of Mines he invented a mechanical device (which he called the "integraph
") for plotting the integral
of a function. He worked briefly in the coal
industry before accepting Guthrie's offer of a position as "demonstrator."
Boys achieved recognition as a scientist for his invention of the fused quartz
fibre torsion balance
, which allowed him to measure extremely small force
s. He used his invention to build a radiomicrometer
capable of responding to the light of a single candle more than one mile away, and used that device for astronomical
observations. In 1895 he published a measurement of the gravitational constant
G that improved upon the accuracy achieved by Cavendish
. Boys's method relied on the same theory as Cavendish's, but used two masses suspended at one height and two nearby masses suspended at a different height, in order to minimize the unwanted interaction between opposite masses.
Boys' work on calorimetry
was used by the government to price natural gas
by energy content rather than volume. He also worked on high-speed photography
and conducted public lectures on the properties of soap films, which were gathered into the book Soap Bubbles: Their Colours and the Forces Which Mould Them, a classic of scientific popularization which remains in print today. The first edition of Soap Bubbles appeared in 1890, and the second in 1911. The book deeply impressed French
writer Alfred Jarry
, who in 1898 wrote the absurdist novel Exploits and Opinions of Dr. Faustroll, pataphysician, in which the title character, who was born at the age of 63 and sails in a sieve, is described as a friend of C.V. Boys (see also 'Pataphysics).
Boys was a professor at the Royal College of Science
(now Imperial College London
) in South Kensington
from 1889 to 1897, as well as an examiner at the University of London
. In 1899 he presented the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures
. He was elected to the Royal Society
in 1888 and knighted in 1935. He was awarded the Royal Medal
in 1896 and the Rumford Medal
in 1924. He was awarded the Elliott Cresson Medal
in 1939.
He married Marion Amelia Pollock in 1892. She caused a scandal by having an affair with the Cambridge mathematician Andrew Forsyth
, as a result of which Forsyth was forced to resign his chair. Boys divorced Marion in 1910 and she later married Forsyth.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
physicist
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
, known for his careful and innovative experimental work.
Boys was the eighth child of the Reverend Charles Boys, the Anglican
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
vicar of Wing, Rutland
Wing, Rutland
Wing is a small village and civil parish in the county of Rutland in the East Midlands of England.-Architecture:The 17th-century houses in Wing were built from stone quarried at nearby Barnack and Clipsham. Many are roofed with Collyweston stone slate....
. He was educated at Marlborough College
Marlborough College
Marlborough College is a British co-educational independent school for day and boarding pupils, located in Marlborough, Wiltshire.Founded in 1843 for the education of the sons of Church of England clergy, the school now accepts both boys and girls of all beliefs. Currently there are just over 800...
and the Royal School of Mines
Royal School of Mines
Royal School of Mines comprises the departments of Earth Science and Engineering, and Materials at Imperial College London.- History :The Royal School of Mines was established in 1851, as the Government School of Mines and Science Applied to the Arts...
, where he learned physics from Frederick Guthrie
Frederick Guthrie
Frederick Guthrie was a British scientific writer and professor. He helped found the Physical Society of London in 1874 and was president of the society from 1884-1886. He believed that science should be based on experimentation rather than discussion...
and taught himself higher mathematics while completing a degree in mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
and metallurgy
Metallurgy
Metallurgy is a domain of materials science that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their intermetallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are called alloys. It is also the technology of metals: the way in which science is applied to their practical use...
. As a student at the School of Mines he invented a mechanical device (which he called the "integraph
Integraph
An Integraph is an instrument used in mathematics for plotting the integral of a graphically defined function.It was invented independently about 1880 by the British physicist Sir Charles Vernon Boys and by Bruno Abakanowicz, a Polish-Lithuanian mathematician from the Russian Empire.An integraph...
") for plotting the integral
Integral
Integration is an important concept in mathematics and, together with its inverse, differentiation, is one of the two main operations in calculus...
of a function. He worked briefly in the coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
industry before accepting Guthrie's offer of a position as "demonstrator."
Boys achieved recognition as a scientist for his invention of the fused quartz
Fused quartz
Fused quartz and fused silica are types of glass containing primarily silica in amorphous form. They are manufactured using several different processes...
fibre torsion balance
Torsion spring
A torsion spring is a spring that works by torsion or twisting; that is, a flexible elastic object that stores mechanical energy when it is twisted. The amount of force it exerts is proportional to the amount it is twisted. There are two types...
, which allowed him to measure extremely small force
Force
In physics, a force is any influence that causes an object to undergo a change in speed, a change in direction, or a change in shape. In other words, a force is that which can cause an object with mass to change its velocity , i.e., to accelerate, or which can cause a flexible object to deform...
s. He used his invention to build a radiomicrometer
Radiometer
A radiometer is a device for measuring the radiant flux of electromagnetic radiation. Generally, the term radiometer denotes an infrared radiation detector, yet it also includes detectors operating on any electromagnetic wavelength....
capable of responding to the light of a single candle more than one mile away, and used that device for astronomical
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
observations. In 1895 he published a measurement of the gravitational constant
Gravitational constant
The gravitational constant, denoted G, is an empirical physical constant involved in the calculation of the gravitational attraction between objects with mass. It appears in Newton's law of universal gravitation and in Einstein's theory of general relativity. It is also known as the universal...
G that improved upon the accuracy achieved by Cavendish
Henry Cavendish
Henry Cavendish FRS was a British scientist noted for his discovery of hydrogen or what he called "inflammable air". He described the density of inflammable air, which formed water on combustion, in a 1766 paper "On Factitious Airs". Antoine Lavoisier later reproduced Cavendish's experiment and...
. Boys's method relied on the same theory as Cavendish's, but used two masses suspended at one height and two nearby masses suspended at a different height, in order to minimize the unwanted interaction between opposite masses.
Boys' work on calorimetry
Calorimetry
Calorimetry is the science of measuring the heat of chemical reactions or physical changes. Calorimetry is performed with a calorimeter. The word calorimetry is derived from the Latin word calor, meaning heat...
was used by the government to price natural gas
Natural gas
Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...
by energy content rather than volume. He also worked on high-speed photography
Photography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
and conducted public lectures on the properties of soap films, which were gathered into the book Soap Bubbles: Their Colours and the Forces Which Mould Them, a classic of scientific popularization which remains in print today. The first edition of Soap Bubbles appeared in 1890, and the second in 1911. The book deeply impressed French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
writer Alfred Jarry
Alfred Jarry
Alfred Jarry was a French writer born in Laval, Mayenne, France, not far from the border of Brittany; he was of Breton descent on his mother's side....
, who in 1898 wrote the absurdist novel Exploits and Opinions of Dr. Faustroll, pataphysician, in which the title character, who was born at the age of 63 and sails in a sieve, is described as a friend of C.V. Boys (see also 'Pataphysics).
Boys was a professor at the Royal College of Science
Royal College of Science
The Royal College of Science was a higher education institution located in South Kensington; it was a constituent college of Imperial College London from 1907 until it was wholly absorbed by Imperial in 2002. Alumni include H. G. Wells and Brian May and are distinguishable by the letters ARCS ...
(now Imperial College London
Imperial College London
Imperial College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom, specialising in science, engineering, business and medicine...
) in South Kensington
South Kensington
South Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London. It is a built-up area located 2.4 miles west south-west of Charing Cross....
from 1889 to 1897, as well as an examiner at the University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
. In 1899 he presented the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures
Royal Institution Christmas Lectures
The Royal Institution Christmas Lectures are a series of lectures on a single topic, which have been held at the Royal Institution in London each year since 1825. The lectures present scientific subjects to a general audience, including young people, in an informative and entertaining manner....
. He was elected to the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
in 1888 and knighted in 1935. He was awarded the Royal Medal
Royal Medal
The Royal Medal, also known as The Queen's Medal, is a silver-gilt medal awarded each year by the Royal Society, two for "the most important contributions to the advancement of natural knowledge" and one for "distinguished contributions in the applied sciences" made within the Commonwealth of...
in 1896 and the Rumford Medal
Rumford Medal
The Rumford Medal is awarded by the Royal Society every alternating year for "an outstandingly important recent discovery in the field of thermal or optical properties of matter made by a scientist working in Europe". First awarded in 1800, it was created after a 1796 donation of $5000 by the...
in 1924. He was awarded the Elliott Cresson Medal
Elliott Cresson Medal
The Elliott Cresson Medal, also known as the Elliott Cresson Gold Medal, was the highest award given by the Franklin Institute. The award was established by Elliott Cresson, life member of the Franklin Institute, with $1,000 granted in 1848...
in 1939.
He married Marion Amelia Pollock in 1892. She caused a scandal by having an affair with the Cambridge mathematician Andrew Forsyth
Andrew Forsyth
Andrew Russell Forsyth was a Scottish mathematician.Andrew Forsyth studied at Liverpool College and was tutored by Richard Pendlebury before entering Trinity College, Cambridge, graduating senior wrangler in 1881...
, as a result of which Forsyth was forced to resign his chair. Boys divorced Marion in 1910 and she later married Forsyth.
External links
- Robert Strutt, 4th Baron Rayleigh, "Charles Vernon Boys. 1855–1944", Obituary notices of the Fellows of the Royal Society, 4(13), 1944, pp. 771–778.