1. Edward John Routh was an English mathematician, noted as the outstanding coach of students preparing for the Mathematical Tripos examination of the University of Cambridge in its heyday in the middle of the nineteenth century.
14 Facts About Edward Routh
1. 2.
Edward Routh did much to systematise the mathematical theory of mechanics and created several ideas critical to the development of modern control systems theory.
3.
Edward Routh's parents were Sir Randolph Isham Routh and his second wife, Marie Louise Taschereau.
4.
Edward Routh came to England aged eleven and attended University College School and then entered University College, London in 1847, having won a scholarship.
5.
Edward Routh attended Peterhouse, Cambridge, where he was taught by Isaac Todhunter and coached by "senior wrangler maker" William Hopkins.
6.
In 1854, Edward Routh graduated just above James Clerk Maxwell, as Senior Wrangler, sharing the Smith's prize with him.
7.
On graduation, Edward Routh took up work as a private mathematics tutor in Cambridge and took on the pupils of William John Steele during the latter's fatal illness, though insisting that Steele take the fees.
8.
Edward Routh inherited Steele's pupils, going on to establish an unbeaten record as a coach.
9.
Edward Routh coached over 600 pupils between 1855 and 1888,28 of them making Senior wrangler, as to Hopkins' 17 with 43 of his pupils winning Smith's Prize.
10.
Edward Routh worked conscientiously and systematically, taking rigidly timetabled classes of ten pupils during the day and spending the evenings preparing extra material for the ablest men.
11.
Edward Routh was a staunch defender of the Cambridge competitive system and despaired when the university started to publish examination results in alphabetical order, observing "They will want to run the Derby alphabetically next".
12.
At the time, the university had a celibacy requirement, forcing Edward Routh to vacate his fellowship and move out of Peterhouse.
13.
Edward Routh collaborated with Henry Brougham on the Analytical View of Sir Isaac Newton's Principia.
14.
Edward Routh devised a new method for solving problems in mechanics.