2.
Physics and Industry
It
took nearly two hundred years for British society to
reach a stage where it had a need for trained physicists.
During the 18th century Britain repealed its laws against
witchcraft and formed colonies around the world, and
by the 19th century Britain and its Empire were at the
heart of an Industrial Revolution.
The
Industrial Revolution created a demand for scientists
in Britain, and in 1850 a Royal Commission was established
to reform the universities. A year earlier George Stokes,
a physicist, had been appointed as the thirteenth Lucasian
Professor. The chair has been held by physicists or theoretical
physicists ever since. The Natural Sciences Tripos, teaching
the range of experimental sciences, was established in
1851.
There
was a great demand for buildings in which the new classes
could be held. The University needed laboratories suited
to the teaching of large groups of students. In 1852
a site that had previously held Cambridge's botanical
garden became available, and was used by the university
as a site to house science buildings. Buildings for
zoology, anatomy, chemistry, mineralogy and botany were
quickly established, and on the 25th November 1860 a
syndicate was appointed to consider Experimental Physics.
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