Samuel Earnshaw

Samuel Earnshaw (1 February 1805, Sheffield, Yorkshire – 6 December 1888, Sheffield, Yorkshire^[1]) was an English clergyman and mathematician and physicist, noted for his contributions to theoretical physics, especially for proving Earnshaw's theorem.

Samuel Earnshaw
Born	(1805-02-01)1 February 1805 Sheffield, Yorkshire, England
Died	6 December 1888(1888-12-06) (aged 83) Sheffield, Yorkshire, England
Known for	Earnshaw's theorem

Earnshaw was born in Sheffield and entered St John's College, Cambridge, graduating Senior Wrangler and Smith's Prizeman in 1831.^[2]

From 1831 to 1847 Earnshaw worked in Cambridge as tripos coach, and in 1846 was appointed to the parish church St. Michael, Cambridge. For a time he acted as curate to the Revd Charles Simeon. In 1847 his health broke down and he returned to Sheffield working as a chaplain and teacher.

Earnshaw published several mathematical and physical articles and books. His most famous contribution, Earnshaw's theorem, shows the impossibility of stability of matter under purely electrostatic forces: other topics included optics, waves, dynamics and acoustics in physics, calculus, trigonometry and partial differential equations in mathematics. As a clergyman, he published several sermons and treatises.

See also

• Cotes's spiral