6.
Teaching and Research
In
1879 Clerk Maxwell died and Lord Rayleigh replaced him
as Professor. The Professorship had been intended to
end with Maxwell's death, but the Cavendish was already
very useful to the University and Rayleigh was encouraged
to take over. At first he was reluctant, but when he
finally accepted he worked enthusiastically.
After
the Duke's generosity in building and furnishing the
Cavendish, Maxwell had been reluctant to ask for any
further funding. When Rayleigh took over he contributed
£500 of his own money towards apparatus, and collected
more than £1000 from the Duke and other donors.
Rayleigh was keen to introduce the 'systematic teaching
of elementary practical physics to a large number of
students', and although only 25 students had passed
the Natural Science Tripos in 1879 the Cavendish offered
five course of physics lectures the following year.
Physics was becoming the dominant science in the Tripos.
Under
Rayleigh formal practical classes were introduced and
students were no longer left alone to discover things
for themselves. Three demonstration classes, each two
hours long, were offered each week. A student would
perform an experiment and write an account of it, which
would be presented to the demonstrator before the student
could start the next experiment. This was based on the
method of teaching used by Pickering at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology in America, but has spread to
become a method that is still used in today's practical
classes.
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