Catalogue description Catalogue of the correspondence of Sir Joseph Larmor FRS 1847 - 1942

This collection of correspondence with major figures in the scientific world illustrate his influence on the scientific thought of his time, covering the period from 1886 when he was at St John's College until his retirement as Lucasian Professor in 1932. Letters are filed according to the name of the sender, with a section at the end of copies of correspondence by Sir Joseph himself.

SECTION A CORRESPONDENCE TO SIR JOSEPH LARMOR

MSG 603/A/

MSG 603/A/1 Abney

MSG 603/A/2 Aldis

MSG 603/A/3 Allbutt

MSG 603/A/4 Anderson, A

MSG 603/A/5 Anderson, H

MSG 603/A/6 Armstrong, H

MSG 603/A/7 Arrhenius, H

MSG 603/A/8 Aston, F

MSG 603/A/9 Ayrton, H

MSG 603/A/10 Ayrton, W

MSG 603/A/11 Balfour, A

MSG 603/A/12 Ball, R

MSG 603/A/13 Barcroft, J

MSG 603/A/14 Barkla, C

MSG 603/A/15 Basset, A

MSG 603/A/16 Bateman, H

MSG 603/A/17 Beattie, J

MSG 603/A/18 Becquerel, A

MSG 603/A/19 Berkley, R

MSG 603/A/20 Bjerkins, V

MSG 603/A/21 Boltzman, L

MSG 603/A/22 Bottomley, J

MSG 603/A/23 Boughey, A

MSG 603/A/24 Bousfield, W

MSG 603/A/25 Boys, C

MSG 603/A/26 Bragg, W

MSG 603/A/27 Brillouin, M

MSG 603/A/28 Brown, E

MSG 603/A/29 Brown, H

MSG 603/A/30 Brown, J

MSG 603/A/31 Bruce-Joy, A

MSG 603/A/32 Bryan, G

MSG 603/A/33 Buckland, W

MSG 603/A/34 Bumstead, H

MSG 603/A/35 Burch, G

MSG 603/A/36 Butler, H

MSG 603/A/37 Callendar, H

MSG 603/A/38 Campbell, J

MSG 603/A/39 Carey, F

MSG 603/A/40 Chree, C

MSG 603/A/41 Christie, W

MSG 603/A/42 Chrystal, G

MSG 603/A/43 Church, A

MSG 603/A/44 Crookes, W

MSG 603/A/45 Culverwell, E

MSG 603/A/46 Darwin, F

MSG 603/A/47 Darwin, G

MSG 603/A/48 Dewar, J

MSG 603/A/49 Dixon, H

MSG 603/A/50 Donnan, F

MSG 603/A/51 Dreyer, J

MSG 603/A/52 Durrant, R

MSG 603/A/53 Dyson, F

MSG 603/A/54 Edgeworth, F

MSG 603/A/55 Eddington, A

MSG 603/A/56 Elliiot, W

MSG 603/A/57 Elliott, E

MSG 603/A/58 Everett, J

MSG 603/A/59 Ewing, J

MSG 603/A/60 Fenton, H

MSG 603/A/61 Fisher, O

MSG 603/A/62 Fitzgerald, G

MSG 603/A/63 Fitzgerald, H

MSG 603/A/64 Fitzgerald, M

MSG 603/A/65 Forsyth, A

MSG 603/A/66 Frankland, W

MSG 603/A/67 Galton, F

MSG 603/A/68 Gamgee, A

MSG 603/A/69 Garnett, J

MSG 603/A/70 Geikie, A

MSG 603/A/71 Gibson, G

MSG 603/A/72 Gifford, W

MSG 603/A/73 Gill, D

MSG 603/A/74 Glazebrook, R

MSG 603/A/75 Gray, A

MSG 603/A/76 Haldane, L

MSG 603/A/77 Hale, G

MSG 603/A/78 Hardy, G

MSG 603/A/79 Hardy, W

MSG 603/A/80 Heath, T

MSG 603/A/81 Heaviside, O

MSG 603/A/82 Henrici, C

MSG 603/A/83 Herschel, J

MSG 603/A/84 Higgs, H

MSG 603/A/85 Hill, M

MSG 603/A/86 Hills, E

MSG 603/A/87 Hippisley, R

MSG 603/A/88 Holderness, J

MSG 603/A/89 Hopkins, F

MSG 603/A/90 Hugel, A

MSG 603/A/91 Huggins, W

MSG 603/A/92 Hunter, J

MSG 603/A/93 Hull, G

MSG 603/A/94 Huggins, M

MSG 603/A/95 Huggins, W

MSG 603/A/96 Jack, W

MSG 603/A/97 James, M

MSG 603/A/98 Johnston, E

MSG 603/A/99 Johnston, W

MSG 603/A/100 Joly, J

MSG 603/A/101 Jorgensen, J

MSG 603/A/102 Julius, W

MSG 603/A/103 Kaufmann, W

MSG 603/A/104 Kempe, A

MSG 603/A/105 Kenyon, F

MSG 603/A/106 Khan, M

MSG 603/A/107 King, L

MSG 603/A/108 Klein, F

MSG 603/A/109 Knobel, E

MSG 603/A/110 Knott, C

MSG 603/A/111 Kohlrausch, F

MSG 603/A/112 Konn, H

MSG 603/A/113 Laby, T

MSG 603/A/114 Lamb, H

MSG 603/A/115 Lang, V

MSG 603/A/116 Langley, E

MSG 603/A/117 Lankester, E

MSG 603/A/118 Larmor, A

MSG 603/A/119 Lees, C

MSG 603/A/120 Lenox-Conyingham, G

MSG 603/A/121 Levi-Civita, T

MSG 603/A/122 Lindemann, F

MSG 603/A/123 Lister, J

MSG 603/A/124 Livens, G

MSG 603/A/125 Lockyer, W

MSG 603/A/126 Lodge, O

MSG 603/A/127 Lorentz, H

MSG 603/A/128 Lowther, J

MSG 603/A/129 Lyman, T

MSG 603/A/130 Macaulay, W

MSG 603/A/131 Macdonald, H

MSG 603/A/132 MacHenry, J

MSG 603/A/133 McLennan, J

MSG 603/A/134 McLeod, H

MSG 603/A/135 Mallock, H

MSG 603/A/136 Martin, R

MSG 603/A/137 Meldola, R

MSG 603/A/138 Merz, J

MSG 603/A/139 Michelson, A

MSG 603/A/140 Middleton, H

MSG 603/A/141 Miller, D

MSG 603/A/142 Milne, E

MSG 603/A/143 Milne, J

MSG 603/A/144 Minchin, G

MSG 603/A/145 Mitchell, P

MSG 603/A/146 More, L

MSG 603/A/147 Morley, E

MSG 603/A/148 Murray, J

MSG 603/A/149 Newhall, H

MSG 603/A/150 Nichols, E

MSG 603/A/151 Nicholson, J

MSG 603/A/152 Niven, J

MSG 603/A/153 Niven, W

MSG 603/A/154 Noble, M

MSG 603/A/155 Noble, A

MSG 603/A/156 Nutting, P

MSG 603/A/157 Ogilvie, F

MSG 603/A/158 Onnes, H

MSG 603/A/159 Pearson, K

MSG 603/A/160 Peirce, B

MSG 603/A/161 Percy, H

MSG 603/A/162 Perry, J

MSG 603/A/163 Phillips, C

MSG 603/A/164 Planck, M

MSG 603/A/165 Poincare, H

MSG 603/A/166 Pope, W

MSG 603/A/167 Poynting, J

MSG 603/A/168 Preston, T

MSG 603/A/169 Prothero, G

MSG 603/A/170 Proudman, J

MSG 603/A/171 Ramsay, M

MSG 603/A/172 Ramsay, W

MSG 603/A/173 Rawlinson, J

MSG 603/A/174 Richards, T

MSG 603/A/175 Richardson, L

MSG 603/A/176 Richardson

MSG 603/A/177 Ridgeway, W

MSG 603/A/178 Righi, A

MSG 603/A/179 Roscoe, H

MSG 603/A/180 Routh, E

MSG 603/A/181 Rubens, H

MSG 603/A/182 Rucker, A

MSG 603/A/183 Russell, B

MSG 603/A/184 Rutherford, E

MSG 603/A/185 Sagnay, G

MSG 603/A/186 Samusi, H

MSG 603/A/187 Saunders, T

MSG 603/A/188 Schott, G

MSG 603/A/189 Scott, R

MSG 603/A/190 Scott, R. H.

MSG 603/A/191 See, T

MSG 603/A/192 Sevier, A

MSG 603/A/193 Sewell, C

MSG 603/A/194 Shaw, W

MSG 603/A/195 Sinclair, G

MSG 603/A/196 Smith, H

MSG 603/A/197 Smithells, A

MSG 603/A/198 Soddy, F

MSG 603/A/199 Sommerfield, A

MSG 603/A/200 Sorley, W

MSG 603/A/201 Stanton, T

MSG 603/A/202 Steele, B

MSG 603/A/203 Stirling, J

MSG 603/A/204 Stokes, G

MSG 603/A/205 Stoney, G

MSG 603/A/206 Stratton, F

MSG 603/A/207 Swan, J

MSG 603/A/208 Synge, E

MSG 603/A/209 Taylor, C

MSG 603/A/210 Thiselton-Dyer, W

MSG 603/A/211 Thompson, D'Arcy W

MSG 603/A/212 Thompson, S

MSG 603/A/213 Thomson, J

MSG 603/A/214 Thomson, M

MSG 603/A/215 Thomson, J J

MSG 603/A/216 Thomson, W

MSG 603/A/217 Thornton, W

MSG 603/A/218 Thorpe, T

MSG 603/A/219 Thrift, W

MSG 603/A/220 Townsend, R

MSG 603/A/221 Travers, M

MSG 603/A/222 Trotter, A

MSG 603/A/223 Trouton, Fturner, H

MSG 603/A/224 Turner, H

MSG 603/A/225 Tutton, A

MSG 603/A/226 Volterra, V

MSG 603/A/227 Walker, G

MSG 603/A/228 Walker, J

MSG 603/A/229 Ward, J

MSG 603/A/230 Watson, H

MSG 603/A/231 Webster, A

MSG 603/A/232 Whetham, W

MSG 603/A/233 Whittaker, E

MSG 603/A/234 Wills, A

MSG 603/A/235 Wilson, H

MSG 603/A/236 Wirtinger

MSG 603/A/237 Wood, R

MSG 603/A/238 Woodward, R

MSG 603/A/239 Young, A

MSG 603/A/240 Young, S

MSG 603/A/241 Young, W

MSG 603/A/242 Zeeman, P

SECTION B CORRESPONDENCE BY SIR JOSEPH LARMOR

MSG 603/B/

MSG 603/B/1 General correspondence

MSG 603/B/2 Notes for a lecture

MSG 603/B/3 Letters about honorary degrees

MSG 603/B/4 Letters about the appointment of a Professor of Chemistry at Cambridge

MSG 603/B/5 Letters about position and duties of Assistant Secretary of Royal Society

Larmor, Sir Joseph, 1847-1942, Knight, scientist and physicist

• Physics

The eldest son in a large family, he received his BA and MA from Queen's University, Belfast, and entered St. John's College, Cambridge, in 1877. In 1880 he was senior wrangler in the mathematical tripos, was awarded a Smith's Prize, and was elected Fellow of St. John's. He was Professor of natural philosophy at Queen's College, Galway, then returned to St.John's in 1885, becoming Lucasian Professor in 1903, holding the post until his retirement in 1932, when he returned to Ireland. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1892, and served as secretary from 1901 to 1912. He was awarded the Royal Medal in 1915 and the Copley Medal in 1921. He was President of the London Mathematical Society in 1914-15, having served on the Council from 1887 to 1912, and was awarded the De Morgan Medal by it in 1914. He was knighted in 1909.

The researches by which Sir Joseph Larmor will be remembered belong to the decade 1892-1901, a transition period in physics before X-rays, electrons and radio-activity, followed by revolutionary changes in the foundation of physical theory. His lectures and writings were concerned with stimulating and creative broad outlines without filling in the details. His scientific work concentrated on electro-magnetic theory, optics, analytical mechanics and geodynamics. He maintained a critical attitude to the new ideas of the young physicists developing quantum theory and relativity, being concerned particularly with the possible limitations of relativity theories. His most famous work 'Aether and Matter' initially published in the 'Philosophical Transactions' of the Royal Society and then as a revision for the Adams prize in the University of Cambridge was a gateway to new thought, revolutionary and inspiring. Throughout his life he persevered in his efforts for the mutual exchange of ideas, as a corrective to the increasing specialization of physics.

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