Thomas Young

Thomas Young (1773–1829) was a British physicist, astronomer, physician, and anthropologist born in Milverton and died in London. He held citizenship in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and was educated at the University of Edinburgh, Emmanuel College, and the University of Göttingen, earning a Doctor of Philosophy. His professional work spanned physics, mechanics, linguistics, and materials science.

Young was a member of the Royal Society, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the French Academy of Sciences. He received the Croonian Medal and Lecture and was a Fellow of the Royal Society and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He worked for the Royal Society, the Royal Institution, and St George's Hospital.

His notable works include the double-slit experiment, astigmatism, the Young–Helmholtz theory, and the Young–Laplace equation. He was described by sources such as the Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary and the Encyclopædia Britannica 11th edition. Young spoke and wrote in English and was associated with Quakers and Anglicanism.