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C. V. Boys

Sir Charles Vernon Boys, FRS[2] (15 March 1855 – 30 March 1944) was a British physicist, known for his careful and innovative experimental work in the fields of thermodynamics and high-speed photography, and as a popular science communicator through his books, inventions, and his public lectures for children.[1][3]


Charles Vernon Boys
Sir Charles Vernon Boys, FRS
Born15 March 1855 (1855-03-15)
Died30 March 1944 (1944-03-31) (aged 89)
CitizenshipBritish
AwardsRoyal Medal (1896)
Duddell Medal and Prize 1924)
Rumford Medal (1924)
Elliott Cresson Medal (1939)
Scientific career
FieldsPhysics

Early life

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."

Experimental physics

Boys achieved recognition as a scientist for his invention of the fused quartz fibre torsion balance, which allowed him to measure extremely small forces. He made the fused quartz fibres for his instrument by attaching a quartz rod to a crossbow quarrel, heating the rod to the point of melting, and shooting the crossbow. By this means he produced fibre so thin that it could not be resolved with an optical microscope.[2]

Boys used the quartz fibre torsion balance to produce a radiomicrometer capable of responding to the light of a single candle more than one mile away, and used that device for astronomical observations. He then used that same balance to improve upon Cavendish's measurement of the gravitational constant G. Boys published his measurement of G in 1894. His method was based on the same basic setup as Cavendish's, but with two masses suspended at one height and two nearby masses suspended at a different height, in order to minimise the unwanted interaction between opposite masses.[4]

Boys was a critic of the solar engine design of Frank Shuman, which led to Shuman hiring him as a technical consultant. Together they patented a "Sun-Boiler", which is similar to modern day parabolic trough solar power plants.[5]

He also worked on high-speed photography and invented a device (the "Boys camera") that allowed him to observe in some detail what occurs during a lightning strike.[6] According to the Feynman Lectures,

The first evidence of what happens in a lightning stroke was obtained in photographs taken with a camera held by hand and moved back and forth with the shutter open—while pointed toward a place where lightning was expected. The first photographs obtained this way showed clearly that lightning strokes are usually multiple discharges along the same path. Later, the "Boys" camera, which has two lenses mounted 180° apart on a rapidly rotating disc, was developed. The image made by each lens moves across the film—the picture is spread out in time. If, for instance, the stroke repeats, there will be two images side by side. By comparing the images of the two lenses, it is possible to work out the details of the time sequence of the flashes.

— R. P. Feynman, "Electricity in the Atmosphere", Feynman Lectures on Physics, vol. II, ch. 9 (1964)

Public service and educational works

In 1897 Boys became a Metropolitan Gas Referee, charged with assessing a fair price for coal gas. He initially worked on the replacement of the standard candle, used to determine the quality of the gas for lighting, by the Harcourt pentane lamp. As heating grew to become the principal use of coal gas, Boys undertook fundamental work on calorimetry to measure and record the heat content of the gas, achieving a substantial increase in precision of measurement. At this time the national gas bill for the United Kingdom was fifty million pounds, so a one-percent correction to the bill represented a very significant amount of money.[2]

 
Portrait of Charles Vernon Boys, 1915, by John Collier, demonstrating his work with soap bubbles.

Boys 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 popularisation. The first edition of Soap Bubbles appeared in 1890 and the second in 1911; it has remained in print to this day. 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). The book was also a favourite of American poet Elizabeth Bishop.

Recognition

Boys was an assistant 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[2] 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.

Other Positions held

  • President of the Physical Society 1916–17
  • President of the Rontgen Society 1906–07[7]

Personal life

Boys married Marion Amelia Pollock in 1892, and the couple had two children.[8] After several years of marriage, Marion caused a scandal by having an affair with mathematician Andrew Forsyth, as a result of which Forsyth was forced to resign his position as a professor at the University of Cambridge. Boys divorced Marion in 1910 and she later married Forsyth. Boys never remarried.

Aside from his serious contributions to science, Boys was known to be a remarkably colourful and well-liked man. He enjoyed playing practical jokes; one of his favourite pastimes was blowing perfectly-timed bubbles and smoke rings out of his office window so they would engulf people passing by.[9] There are also reports that exhibited several unconventional behaviours; he was known to drink his tea from a saucer if it was too hot, and on at least one occasion, attempted to hide a stain on his shirt by tucking sheets of paper behind his waistcoat. He also had several of his award medals, including his Royal Medal, melted down to fund the education of students at his alma mater, Marlborough College.[10] His personal interests included gardening and biology.[8]

Boys began losing his eyesight later in life, and died at his home at age 89 in St Mary Bourne, Andover in Hampshire on 30 March 1944.[7][8]

References

  1. ^ a b c O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "C. V. Boys", MacTutor History of Mathematics archive, University of St Andrews
  2. ^ a b c d Rayleigh, B. (1944). "Charles Vernon Boys. 1855–1944". Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society. 4 (13): 771. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1944.0021. S2CID 125368387.
  3. ^ "No. 1750: Soap Bubbles". www.uh.edu. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  4. ^ "On the Newtonian Constant of Gravitation". Nature. 50 (1292): 330–334. August 1894. Bibcode:1894Natur..50..330.. doi:10.1038/050330a0. S2CID 43033668.
  5. ^ Ragheb, Magdi (10 September 2014). "Solar Thermal Power and Energy Storage Historical Perspective" (PDF). mragheb.com. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
  6. ^ Uman, Martin A. (1984) [1969]. Lightning. New York: Dover Publications Inc. pp. 15–18. ISBN 0-486-15095-X.
  7. ^ a b Waterston, C. D.; Shearer, A. Macmillan (July 2006). (PDF). The Royal Society of Edinburgh. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 September 2015. Retrieved 6 May 2015.
  8. ^ a b c "Boys Charles Vernon | Encyclopedia.com". www.encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  9. ^ Horman, Charles. "NASA's Littlest Contractor" (PDF). IEEE Spectrum. (PDF) from the original on 3 February 2015. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  10. ^ "Boys and his Bubbles - Objectivity #187 - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 11 January 2021.

External links

boys, charles, vernon, boys, march, 1855, march, 1944, british, physicist, known, careful, innovative, experimental, work, fields, thermodynamics, high, speed, photography, popular, science, communicator, through, books, inventions, public, lectures, children,. Sir Charles Vernon Boys FRS 2 15 March 1855 30 March 1944 was a British physicist known for his careful and innovative experimental work in the fields of thermodynamics and high speed photography and as a popular science communicator through his books inventions and his public lectures for children 1 3 SirCharles Vernon BoysSir Charles Vernon Boys FRSBorn15 March 1855 1855 03 15 Wing Rutland England 1 Died30 March 1944 1944 03 31 aged 89 St Mary Bourne Andover Hampshire England 1 CitizenshipBritishAwardsRoyal Medal 1896 Duddell Medal and Prize 1924 Rumford Medal 1924 Elliott Cresson Medal 1939 Scientific careerFieldsPhysics Contents 1 Early life 2 Experimental physics 3 Public service and educational works 4 Recognition 5 Other Positions held 6 Personal life 7 References 8 External linksEarly life EditBoys 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 Experimental physics EditBoys achieved recognition as a scientist for his invention of the fused quartz fibre torsion balance which allowed him to measure extremely small forces He made the fused quartz fibres for his instrument by attaching a quartz rod to a crossbow quarrel heating the rod to the point of melting and shooting the crossbow By this means he produced fibre so thin that it could not be resolved with an optical microscope 2 Boys used the quartz fibre torsion balance to produce a radiomicrometer capable of responding to the light of a single candle more than one mile away and used that device for astronomical observations He then used that same balance to improve upon Cavendish s measurement of the gravitational constant G Boys published his measurement of G in 1894 His method was based on the same basic setup as Cavendish s but with two masses suspended at one height and two nearby masses suspended at a different height in order to minimise the unwanted interaction between opposite masses 4 Boys was a critic of the solar engine design of Frank Shuman which led to Shuman hiring him as a technical consultant Together they patented a Sun Boiler which is similar to modern day parabolic trough solar power plants 5 He also worked on high speed photography and invented a device the Boys camera that allowed him to observe in some detail what occurs during a lightning strike 6 According to the Feynman Lectures The first evidence of what happens in a lightning stroke was obtained in photographs taken with a camera held by hand and moved back and forth with the shutter open while pointed toward a place where lightning was expected The first photographs obtained this way showed clearly that lightning strokes are usually multiple discharges along the same path Later the Boys camera which has two lenses mounted 180 apart on a rapidly rotating disc was developed The image made by each lens moves across the film the picture is spread out in time If for instance the stroke repeats there will be two images side by side By comparing the images of the two lenses it is possible to work out the details of the time sequence of the flashes R P Feynman Electricity in the Atmosphere Feynman Lectures on Physics vol II ch 9 1964 Public service and educational works EditIn 1897 Boys became a Metropolitan Gas Referee charged with assessing a fair price for coal gas He initially worked on the replacement of the standard candle used to determine the quality of the gas for lighting by the Harcourt pentane lamp As heating grew to become the principal use of coal gas Boys undertook fundamental work on calorimetry to measure and record the heat content of the gas achieving a substantial increase in precision of measurement At this time the national gas bill for the United Kingdom was fifty million pounds so a one percent correction to the bill represented a very significant amount of money 2 Portrait of Charles Vernon Boys 1915 by John Collier demonstrating his work with soap bubbles Boys 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 popularisation The first edition of Soap Bubbles appeared in 1890 and the second in 1911 it has remained in print to this day 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 The book was also a favourite of American poet Elizabeth Bishop Recognition EditBoys was an assistant 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 2 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 Other Positions held EditPresident of the Physical Society 1916 17 President of the Rontgen Society 1906 07 7 Personal life EditBoys married Marion Amelia Pollock in 1892 and the couple had two children 8 After several years of marriage Marion caused a scandal by having an affair with mathematician Andrew Forsyth as a result of which Forsyth was forced to resign his position as a professor at the University of Cambridge Boys divorced Marion in 1910 and she later married Forsyth Boys never remarried Aside from his serious contributions to science Boys was known to be a remarkably colourful and well liked man He enjoyed playing practical jokes one of his favourite pastimes was blowing perfectly timed bubbles and smoke rings out of his office window so they would engulf people passing by 9 There are also reports that exhibited several unconventional behaviours he was known to drink his tea from a saucer if it was too hot and on at least one occasion attempted to hide a stain on his shirt by tucking sheets of paper behind his waistcoat He also had several of his award medals including his Royal Medal melted down to fund the education of students at his alma mater Marlborough College 10 His personal interests included gardening and biology 8 Boys began losing his eyesight later in life and died at his home at age 89 in St Mary Bourne Andover in Hampshire on 30 March 1944 7 8 References Edit a b c O Connor John J Robertson Edmund F C V Boys MacTutor History of Mathematics archive University of St Andrews a b c d Rayleigh B 1944 Charles Vernon Boys 1855 1944 Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society 4 13 771 doi 10 1098 rsbm 1944 0021 S2CID 125368387 No 1750 Soap Bubbles www uh edu Retrieved 11 January 2021 On the Newtonian Constant of Gravitation Nature 50 1292 330 334 August 1894 Bibcode 1894Natur 50 330 doi 10 1038 050330a0 S2CID 43033668 Ragheb Magdi 10 September 2014 Solar Thermal Power and Energy Storage Historical Perspective PDF mragheb com Retrieved 25 October 2018 Uman Martin A 1984 1969 Lightning New York Dover Publications Inc pp 15 18 ISBN 0 486 15095 X a b Waterston C D Shearer A Macmillan July 2006 Former Fellows 1783 2002 PDF The Royal Society of Edinburgh Archived from the original PDF on 19 September 2015 Retrieved 6 May 2015 a b c Boys Charles Vernon Encyclopedia com www encyclopedia com Retrieved 11 January 2021 Horman Charles NASA s Littlest Contractor PDF IEEE Spectrum Archived PDF from the original on 3 February 2015 Retrieved 11 January 2021 Boys and his Bubbles Objectivity 187 YouTube www youtube com Archived from the original on 21 December 2021 Retrieved 11 January 2021 External links Edit Wikisource has original works by or about C V Boys Wikiquote has quotations related to C V Boys Works by C V Boys at Project Gutenberg Works by or about C V Boys at Internet Archive Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title C V Boys amp oldid 1122695973, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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