William Hopkins | |
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![]() William Hopkins (1793–1866) | |
Born | Kingston-on-Soar, Nottinghamshire, England, Kingdom of Great Britain | 2 February 1793
Died | 13 October 1866 | (aged 73)
Nationality | English |
Alma mater | St Peter's College, Cambridge |
Known for | Finding that melting point increases with pressure[1] |
Awards | Wollaston Medal (1850) |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Mathematician and geologist |
Institutions | University of Cambridge |
Academic advisors | Adam Sedgwick |
Notable students | Edward John Routh Francis Galton George Gabriel Stokes Arthur Cayley Lord Kelvin Peter Guthrie Tait James Clerk Maxwell Isaac Todhunter Philip Kelland |
William Hopkins FRS (2 February 1793 – 13 October 1866) was an English mathematician and geologist. He is famous as a private tutor of aspiring undergraduate Cambridge mathematicians, earning him the sobriquet the "senior-wrangler maker."
He also made important contributions in asserting a solid, rather than fluid, interior for the Earth and explaining many geological phenomena in terms of his model. However, though his conclusions proved to be correct, his mathematical and physical reasoning were subsequently seen as unsound.