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George Atwood
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OverviewAI-generated
George Atwood (1745–1807) was a British mathematician, physicist, inventor, and chess player. He was educated at Westminster School and Trinity College, Cambridge. Atwood worked at the University of Cambridge and the Exchequer. He is known for the Atwood machine and the Atwood number.
Atwood was a member of the Royal Society and received the Copley Medal. He died in Westminster and is buried at St Margaret's Church. His works are held in the collections of the National Museum Cardiff and the Royal Society.
Synthesized by Vinony from 23 facts across 2 sources: Wikidata, Vinony collections. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
In the Vinony graph
Vinony catalogs George Atwood in its Copley Medal collection (280 entries). It also appears in Fellows of the Royal Society.
Within Vinony's link graph, George Atwood is referenced by 58 other articles, and connects out to mathematics, England and chess.
Vinony files it under 1745 births, 1807 deaths and 18th-century English mathematicians.
Its subject is documented across 29 Wikipedia language editions.
Key facts
- Born
- October 1745 ( 1745-10 ) , Westminster , England
- Died
- July 11, 1807 (1807-07-11) (aged 61), Westminster , England
- Alma mater
- Trinity College, Cambridge
- Known for
- Atwood machine
- Awards
- Smith's Prize (1769), Copley Medal (1796)
- Fields
- Mathematics
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Given name
- George
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
- Place of birth
- Westminster
- Place of death
- Westminster
- Occupation
- astronomer
- Educated at
- Westminster School
- Employer
- Exchequer
- Languages spoken
- English language
- Award
- Copley Medal
- Notable work
- Atwood number
- Material used
- canvas
- Sport
- chess
- Country for sport
- England
- Image
- El mundo físico, 1882 "Máquina de Atwood". (4030992563).jpg
- Work location
- Cambridge
Show 6 more facts
- member of
- Royal Society
- date of birth
- 1745-10-00
- date of death
- 1807-07-11
- Commons category
- George Atwood
- has works in the collection
- National Museum Cardiff
- place of burial
- St Margaret's Church, Westminster
via Wikidata · CC0
~3 min read
Encyclopedic overview
George Atwood FRS (c. October 1745 – 11 July 1807) was an English mathematician who invented the Atwood machine for illustrating the effects of Newton's laws of motion. He was also a renowned chess player whose skill for recording many games of his own and of other players, including François-André Danican Philidor, the leading master of his time, left a valuable historical record for future generations.
Atwood was born in Westminster, with the date remaining unknown, but presumed to have been shortly before his baptism on 15 October 1745. He attended Westminster School, and in 1765, was admitted to Trinity College, Cambridge. He graduated in 1769, with the rank of third wrangler and was awarded the inaugural first Smith's Prize. Subsequently, he became a fellow and a tutor of the college. In 1776, he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of London.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “George Atwood” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.