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George Green: miller and mathematical physicist

Physics and Maths Lunchtime Lecture Series, Sheffield Hallam University (08/10/2024).

Abstract:
Green was the son of a miller from Nottingham, and grew up with a small amount of formal education working in his father's windmill. Even so, he went to self-publish a revolutionary mathematical analysis of electricity and magnetism, with university study and further papers to follow. His techniques were taken up in the next generation by the greats of 19th C. mathematical physics, led by Kelvin, and the following century went on to be even more useful in the new science of quantum physics. His work is part of the healing of the divide between England and continental Europe over the Newton/Leibniz calculus controversy. This talk will explore Green's mathematical influences and the legacy of his work.