Sir John William Lubbock, the 3rd Baronet, was an English banker, barrister, mathematician, and astronomer. He was the first Vice-Chancellor of the University of London.
Background
Lubbock was born on March 26, 1803, in Westminster, London. He was named for his father, Sir John Lubbock, 2nd Baronet, from whom he inherited (1840) both his mercantile bank (Lubbock & Co.) and his baronetcy. His mother's maiden name was Mary Entwisle.
Education
Lubbock attended Eton before enrolling in 1821 at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1825 and a Master of Arts in 1833.
A banker by profession, Lubbock spent his leisure hours in scientific pursuits.
Lubbock was introduced to Laplace's powerful mathematical techniques during a visit to Paris in 1822, three years before the final volume of the Mecanique celeste had appeared. In 1828 Lubbock wrote an article on annuities, applying Laplace's probability theory. By 1831 he was making progress both with predicting the exact position of the moon in the sky and also - thanks to business connections with the chairman of the London Dock Company - with the assembling of many years of water level readings, from which to determine the average time high tide lagged behind the moon (an interval commonly known as the establishment of the port).
For his work on the tides Lubbock received from the Royal Society one of the two medals awarded in 1833; the other went to the geologist Charles Lyell. Lubbock joined the Royal Astronomical Society in 1828. He became a fellow of the Royal Society in 1829, and served twice as its treasurer and vice-president (1830-1835, 1838-1847). Rather late in life (1848) he was elected a fellow of the Geological Society and contributed to its Quarterly Journal in 1849 a suggestion as to how a change in the axis of the earth might have accounted for the redistribution of water and land areas.
Lubbock was the first Vice-Chancellor of the University of London (1837-1842), a position later held by his eldest son. He was appointed Sheriff of Kent for 1852.
Achievements
Membership
Royal Society.
Royal Society of London
,
United Kingdom
1830 - 1835
Geological Society
,
United Kingdom
1848
Connections
In 1833 Lubbock married Harriet Hotham; the eldest of their eleven children was the fourth Sir John Lubbock and first Baron Avebury, who wrote many books on natural history.