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John William Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh, was a British physicist and hereditary peer who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1904 for his discovery of argon.
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science · British physicist (1842–1919) · physicist · politician · university teacher · mathematician · chemist · also John William Strutt, John William Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh, John Strutt, Lord Rayleigh, Lord Rayleigh, John William Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh of Terling Place, Strutt
Born 12 November 1842 · Died 30 June 1919 · Q83297
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Public attention spiked: 3,050 Wikipedia readers in one day, 35.9× the usual 85, with 0 article edits.
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Won Rumford Medal (1920).
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Died 1919-06-30.
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Rayleigh served as President of the Society for Psychical Research
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Career landmark: chairperson (1919–1919).
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Won Rumford Medal (1914).
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Won Elliott Cresson Medal (1913).
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Career landmark: chancellor (1908–1919).
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Won Albert Medal (1905).
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Career landmark: President of the Royal Society (1905–1908).
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Career landmark: Member of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom (1905).
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Awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics — for his investigations of the densities of the most important gases and for his discovery of argon in connection with these studies.
Awarded Nobel Prize in Physics (1904).
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Rayleigh and Ramsay were awarded the Nobel Prizes in Physics and Chemistry, respectively; both for research related to the discovery of argon
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Awarded Pour le Mérite (1902).
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Won Royal Society Bakerian Medal (1902).
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Awarded Order of Merit (1902).
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Won Copley Medal (1899).
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Won Barnard Medal for Meritorious Service to Science (1895).
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Awarded Faraday Lectureship Prize (1895).
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Awarded Leconte Prize (1895).
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Won Matteucci Medal (1894).
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Career landmark: Lord Lieutenant of Essex (1892–1901).
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Awarded Bressa Prize (1891).
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Won De Morgan Medal (1890).
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First described dynamic soaring by seabirds in Nature
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Won Royal Medal (1882).
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Rayleigh was appointed Cavendish Professor of Physics at the University of Cambridge
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Career landmark: director (1879–1884).
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Career landmark: president (1876–1876).
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Awarded Fellow of the Royal Society (1873).
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On the death of his father, he inherited the Barony of Rayleigh
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Career landmark: member of the House of Lords (1873–1919).
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Strutt resigned from his fellowship to marry Evelyn Balfour, the daughter of James Maitland Balfour, with whom he had three sons
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Rayleigh published the first theoretical treatment of the elastic scattering of light by particles much smaller than the light's wavelength, a phenomenon now known as Rayleigh scattering, which notably explains why the s
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Studied at University of Cambridge, Doctor (1868).
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Awarded Smith's Prize (1865).
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Studied at Trinity College (1861–1865).
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Studied at Harrow School (1856).
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Born 1842-11-12.
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