Cambridge

Punting on the Cam - The Bridge of Sighs

I haven't been sure where to begin with my time in Cambridge, and I figured punting was as good as anything.  It's sort of classic, and it shows of the colleges of Cambridge University well.

As I write this I am sitting in the Centre for Mathematical Sciences, Cambridge - in the common room of one of the pure math pavilions with a bust of Ramanujan overlooking my work.  I don't know how anyone could possible beat that situation!

Before leaving on my sabbatical travels I wrote a professor here, Dr. Piers Bursill-Hall, with one question about the location of rooms of two mathematicians I was particularly interested in: John Edensor Littlewood and G. H. Hardy.  I'd been told he'd be the best person to ask.  Rather than receiving just an email answer I have been hosted in the most gracious and solicitous manner imaginable - so much so that I'm feeling almost too humbled and awed to really write much about it at this point.  I'm still pinching myself and wondering if this is real.

He first connected me with one of his doctoral students, Richard Chapling, who is in maths at Trinity College and who is very knowledgeable about Hardy, among many other things.  Richard pointed out places and items related to Newton, ushered me into the Trinity Great Court in time to hear the famous clock chime noon, showed me various of Littlewood's, Hardy's and Ramanujan's room locations from over the years (there was some moving around), and then treated me to lunch in Trinity's hall, which just about knocked my socks off as I sat under the hammer beam roof and under the gaze of Henry VIII.  When the three of us were having dinner together the next day I remarked on what a privilege that was for me, Piers said, "No big deal.  Hardy ate there every day."  To which I replied, "Yes!  EXACTLY!"

To make a very long story short, on Friday after the tour and lunch at Trinity, Piers met up with me and Richard and took us to Ely Cathedral, which was fascinating.  Saturday involved visits to many of the colleges and chapels - concluding with my first visit to the Centre for Mathematical Sciences, time to work here, take-out Chinese in "The Core," and lots of stories told.  Today involved an amazing visit to James Clerk Maxwell's laboratory (lots of stories about that - what a privilege! - same lab bench still there that Maxwell, Rutherford and Einstein taught on), a second visit to King's College Chapel, finally getting in to Trinity College Chapel, time in Clare, St. John's, etc.  And now back to the CMS where Piers and Richard are working in the office on their stuff while I work alone in the common room on this.

ASTOUNDING!

I'm here in Cambridge because of the "non-trivial" number of phenomenal mathematicians (and mathematical physicists and mathematical philosophers) throughout history that are associated with Cambridge, and particularly Trinity College, Cambridge - people such as the following:

Charles Babbage

Mary Cartwright

Arthur Cayley

Augustus de Morgan

Paul Dirac

William Timothy Gowers

G. H. Hardy

James Jeans

John Maynard Keynes

John Edensor Littlewood

James Clerk Maxwell

Sir Isaac Newton

Roger Penrose

Srinivasa Ramanujan

Bertrand Russell

Peter Swinnerton-Dyer

Sir George Gabriel Stokes

James Joseph Sylvester

Alan Turing

John Venn

John Wallis

Alfred North Whitehead

Andrew Wiles

  .  .  .  to name a few.

I'm having rather a hard time processing all the information I've taken in in the last few days, so I think for now I'll just post some pictures of Cambridge and will try to sort things out into separate posts later.

Newton's Apple Tree at Cambridge - a descendant of the one at his home in Woolsthorpe

Trinity Great Gate with founder Henry VIII holding a rather interesting scepter

This fountain in the middle of the Great Court has been here since before Newton's time

Trinity Clock Tower (Chapel to the right)

Statue of Newton in Trinity College Chapel

A few plaques among many in Trinity's chapel - 

Wren Library, Trinity College, Cambridge (from Nevile's Court)

King's College Chapel

King's College Chapel

Detail of King's College Chapel (west door)

Inside King's College Chapel

Henry Rex

H&A - didn't work out so well for A

Fan Vaulted Ceiling of King's College Chapel

Fan Vaulted Ceiling of King's College Chapel

Here are some images of James Clerk Maxwell's laboratory/lecture hall.  My host taught in this room for 20 years, but it has now been taken over by Sociology <gasp> because physics was more interested in nice new rooms than this sacred history.  It was recently used for storage space and now is not being used for anything.  Maths faculty is hoping it is not gutted in a couple of years to make a modern classroom  .  .  .

Trap doors in the ceiling allowed things to be lowered in.

Original bench over which Maxwell, Rutherford, Einstein and Bursill-Hall taught

Student's-eye View - Dr. Bursill-Hall at front

There are MANY more Cambridge photos I could share, and some of the ones I have shared I probably should have waited with until I wrote on specific mathematicians, but this is just all too cool not to jump in right now and post all this.

Oh - one last closing shot - about to go under the Mathematical Bridge on the punt - couldn't be happier: