Obituary

Silvanus Phillips Thompson. Hon. Mem. A. I. E. E., past-president of the Institution of Electrical Engineers, noted physicist and electrical engineer and celebrated as a teacher and writer on electricity and magnetism, died in London on June 13, 1916. He was born at York, England, June 19, 1851, and was educated at the Friends´ School in that city, and the Founders´ College. In 1869 he was graduated from London University with the degree of B. A. He then took up the study of chemistry and physics at the Royal School of Mines, and spent some time in study at Heidelberg and other foreign universities. Mr. Thompson was graduated from the University of London in 1875 with the degree of B. S. In 1878 he received the degree of doctor of science from the same university, and in that year was appointed professor of experimental physics in Bristol University College. Here he began a series of investigations covering a wide range of problems in physics and electricity. Professor Thompson applied the magnetic figures formed with iron filings to the explanation of electrodynamic relations and the action of the dynamoelectric machine. He applied Clerk Maxwell´s electromagnetic theory of light to the explanation of the effect of tourmaline crystals on polarized light, and constructed electro-optic models of these crystals out of iron wire and glass. Professor Thompson´s Cantor lectures in 1883 on the construction, theory and mode of operation of dynamoelectric machines established his reputation as an authority on the subject. In 1885 he was elected to fill the chair of physics at the City and Guilds Technical College, Finsbury, London, where he was also principal. Professor Thompson has always been famous as a writer on electrical subjects whose work was marked by unusual lucidity, directness and literary style. He also made many contributions to the history of science and philosophy. His “Elementary Lessons in Electricity and Magnetism” has been one of the - ost widely read treatises on the subject, and has been translated into many languages. Among his other well-known works are “Dynamo-electric Machinery,” “The Electromagnet,” “Polyphase Electric Currents and Motors,” “Michael Faraday — His Life and Work,” “Light, Visible and Invisible,” and the “Life of Lord Kelvin.” Professor Thompson was a member of many scientific and learned bodies, and had been honored by election to the presidency of many of them. He was first elected to membership in the American Institute of Electrical Engineers on October 27, 1897, and was elected an Honorary Member on March 13, 1914.