George Green: An Enigmatic Mathematician

Author(s): D. M. Cannell
Source: The American Mathematical Monthly, Vol. 106, No. 2 (Feb., 1999), pp. 136-151
Published by: Mathematical Association of America
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 GeorgeGreen:An Enigmatic
Mathematician
D. M. Cannell

The mathematicsdeveloped by George Green has been widelyapplied in modern

physicsand quantum electrodynamics yet his life has remained somethingof a
mystery. There is no referenceto him in the main volumes of the Dictionaryof
Biography:he is belatedlyand brieflyincludedin the Supplementof 1976.
Scientific
The bicentenarycelebrationsof his birthin 1993 focused increasingattentionon
the man who gave the worldGreen's functions.
This MONTHLY has alreadypublishedan authoritative account[3] of Green'sfirst
and seminal publication,An Essay on theApplicationof MathematicalAnalysisto
and Magnetism,which examinedin some detail his use
the Theoriesof Electricity
and developmentof mathematicalsources. What is presented here is a short
surveyof Green's life and an examinationof the circumstancesand the social
environment in whichhe lived.The greatproblemis the lack of materialconcern-
ing Green. His outputwas small; ten papers includingthe Essay, writtenin the
space of eleven years, amountingto less than 250 pages of print.There are no
manuscripts,no workingpapers, no diaries,no memorabilia.There are a dozen
lettersto his patron,but no replies. There is no portraitor photograph.There
was no establishedfamilyhouse forhis common-lawwife,Jane Smith,and their
seven children,and when the last, Clara, died in 1919, the familywas thought
to be extinct.
The few officialfactsof Green's lifewere establishedand publishedby H. G.
Green (no relation)[5]. His paper includedtwovaluable letterswrittenin 1845 by
Green's cousin and brother-in-law, William Tomlin, and Edward Bromhead,his
patron.In the 1970s Green'slettersto Bromheadcame to light-the onlyinforma-
tion extantin Green's own hand, the onlytestimonyto his mathematicalthought
and the onlyrevelationof his personality.Green died at the age of forty-seven,
just
at the time when his work was about to be recognized: in consequence he
establishedno reputationin his lifetime.
Green was bornin 1793 and died in 1841. He was the onlyson of a Nottingham
baker,who prosperedsufficiently to extendhis bakerybusinessand build his own
mill in the nearbyvillage of Sneinton.Later he built a familyhouse next to the
mill; he acquired furtherpropertyand died in 1829, sufficiently affluentto allow
his son George to live on his income forthe rest of his life.At fourteenGeorge
was apprenticedto his father'smill manager,William Smith,fatherof Jane. He
foundhis duties as a miller"irksome"but as the onlyson he was obliged to work
forhis father.By the age of eighthe had showna passion formathematics,such
thathis fathersenthimto an expensivetownschool,RobertGoodacre's Academy,
but he leftthe followingyear and startedworkin his father'sbakery.
Nothingmore is knownof George Green's lifeforcertainuntilhe reached the
age of thirtyand became a memberof the NottinghamSubscriptionLibrary.No
other serious libraryfacilitiesexisted in Nottinghamat this period, but the
SubscriptionLibrarywas in effecta gentlemen'sclub, housed in the elegant

136 GEORGE GREEN: AN ENIGMATIC MATHEMATICIAN [February

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Georgian BromleyHouse in the Market Square. The membersowned the prop-
erty,purchased books accordingto their taste, and confinedtheir numbersto
prosperousand "respectableinhabitantsof the town"drawnfromthe professional
classes, the gentry,and successfulmen of business. George Green, a working
miller,and an artisanwho workedwithhis hands,was an unlikelymemberof such
a gathering.But apparentlyhe was becomingknownin the townforhis mathemat-
ical interests;in anycase he was probablysponsoredbyhis cousinWilliamTomlin,
a successfulman of propertyand an activememberof the Library.Five yearslater
Green producedhis firstand mostimportantwork,An Essay on theApplicationof
Mathematical Analysisto theTheoriesofElectricity and Magnetism.Green published
the Essay at his own expense and opened a subscription list-a usual procedureat
thisperiod.As Bromheadwrotein 1845,"I metwitha subscription list,forhis first
matheml.publication,and added myname as CountryGentlemenoftendo byway
of encouragingeveryattemptat provincialliterature"[4a]. So Sir Edward Brom-
head, of ThurlbyHall near Lincoln,became one of the fifty-one subscribersto the
Essay, halfof whomwere membersof the Library.
The Essay,whichas faras is knownwas Green's own unaided work,was one of
great originality, bu tit attractedlittle attentionat the time and Green despon-
dentlyresumedhis milling.The death of his father,and his consequentindepen-
dence,was followedby his firstmeetingwithBromheadin 1830,who encouraged
him to resume his studies. Green wrote three papers, two on electricityand
magnetism(whichBromhead sponsoredforpublicationin the Transactionsof the
CambridgePhilosophicalSociety),and the thirdon hydrodynamics in the Transac-
tionsof the Royal Societyof Edinburgh,of whichBromheadwas a Fellow, as he
was of the Royal Societyof London. The period 1830 to 1833 produced Green's
lettersto Bromhead.The two men,despite differencein rank,were similarin age
and had muchin commonin mattersmathematical,since Bromheadhad a strong
interestin mathematicalanalysis.At Cambridgehe had met his lifelongfriends
Charles Babbage and JohnFrederickHerschel, and they,with George Peacock
and a few others,had formedthe undergraduateAnalyticalSocietyin 1812,with
the aim of publicising,in Cambridge,the continentalmathematicsderivingfrom
Leibniz, in preferenceto the 'fluxions'of his contemporary, Isaac Newton,now
deifiedin Cambridge.This led to the publicationin 1816 of theirtranslationof
Lacroix'sTraitedu calcul differentielet du calcul integral.
Finally,in October 1833, Green enrolled as an undergraduatein Bromhead's
college of Gonville and Caius, usuallyreferredto as 'Caius.' In January1837 he
took his mathematicalexaminationsand emergedFourthWrangler.(Wranglerwas
the Cambridgetermforfirstclass honoursmen,whose names were at that time
publishedin orderof merit,the Senior Wranglerbeingthe first,and the last being
awarded the Wooden Spoon.) In the followingtwo and a half years, Green
published his six final papers in the Cambridge Transactions.These, like the
Edinburghpaper, dealt with wave theorybased on studies in hydrodynamics,
sound,and light.Six yearsaftercomingto Cambridge,Green was elected a Fellow
of Caius, a position that would have allowed him to stay on in Cambridge,
studying,writing,and consortingwith Cambridge academics. Tragically,after
holding his Fellowship for only two terms, he returned in failing health to
Nottingham,"with the opinion,"William Tomlin relates, "that he should never
recoverfromhis illnessand whichbecame verifiedin littlemorethan a year'stime
on 31stMay 1841"[4b]. Green'sgravein St. Stephen'schurchyard, Sneinton,is just
across the road fromthe millwhere he had workedfornearlytwentyyears.

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 Green's death in Nottinghamcaused littlestir.His Fellowshiphad been noted
in a singlesentencein the Nottingham Reviewand on his death it contributeda
modestobituarywhichconcluded: "Had his death been prolonged,he mighthave
stood eminently highas a mathematician." It would appear thatCambridgedid not
long hold Green in memoryeither.Four yearsafterhis death,an enquiryto Caius
College was passed to Bromhead,whichelicitedhis and Tomlin'slettersof 1845.
The enquiryproduced more than the information containedin the letters,how-
ever, invaluable though that has proved, since it led to the retrievalof the
long-neglectedEssay of 1828.
The re-discoveryof the Essay is one of the better-known incidentsin the Green
storyand is recountedin the biographiesof both Kelvin [11] and Liouville [7].
WilliamThomson,the futureLord Kelvin,took his degreein January1845 and left
for Paris to spend the summerworkingwithVictor Regnault in his 'cabinet de
physique,'and with lettersof introductionto the mathematiciansthen in Paris:
Liouville,Chasles, Sturm,and others.Thomsonwas alreadykeenlyinterestedin
the problemsof electricityand magnetismand he was firstalertedto the existence
of Green's Essay by a footnotein a paper on integralsby RobertMurphy.Murphy
had been a Fellow of Caius duringGreen's residencethere.He had also been the
'rapporteur,'or referee,of Green's paper on ellipsoids,sent in 1833 by Bromhead
to Whewell,forpublicationin the CambridgeTransactions, and Green had sent a
copy of his Essay withthe paper. Murphy'sfootnotewas as follows:

The electricalaction in the thirdsection,is measured by the tensionwhich

would be producedby an infinitely thinrod, communicating withthe electri-
cal body,by the or
attraction repulsion of the matter;it is what Mr. Green,of
Nottingham, in his ingenious Essay on this subject, has denominated the
PotentialFunction [8].

Thomson immediatelyvisited the Cambridgebooksellers.Not surprisingly, they

knew nothingof an Essay published privatelyin Nottinghameighteen years
previously.Justbychance however,on the eve of his departureforParis,Thomson
met his tutor,William Hopkins,who passed him two copies of the Essay, which
Green had givenhim. (A later paper, inscribed"W Hopkins Esquire" in Green's
hand, is now in the Green Archive,in the Universityof Nottingham.)
"I had onlytimethateveningto look at some pages of it,whichastonishedme,"
wroteLord Kelvin in 1907, a fortnight beforehe died at the age of eighty-three.
"Next day, if I rememberright,on the top of a diligenceon myway to Paris, I
managed to read some more of it" [4c].
Green's Essay caused a sensationamongthe mathematiciansin Paris. In it they
found Green's solutionsto the problemsthen confronting them.The Essay was
publishedby Crelle in his Joumalin threepartsin 1850, 1852, and 1854. By 1900,
as notedby Grattan-Guinness, Green'sfunctions,referredto as such byBurkhardt
and Meyer[1] and keenlypropagatedby Riemannand Neumann,were well known
to Germanmathematicians. The Essay was not reprintedin England until1871,in
Mathematical Papersofthelate GeorgeGreen,editedbyN. M. Ferrers,promotedby
Caius College and printedin London.
WilliamThomsondid morethanre-discoverthe Essay. He developed a life-long
admirationfor Green and did much to establishhis posthumousreputation.He
furtherdeveloped Green's theoriesin his own researchin electromagnetism, e.g.,
his methodof images.His friendG. G. Stokes likewisedeveloped Green'sworkon

138 GEORGE GREEN: AN ENIGMATIC MATHEMATICIAN [February

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wavetheoryin his ownstudiesin hydrodynamics.Green'sconsiderable
influence
on thedevelopment of nineteenth classicalphysicsis summedup in the
century
wordsofEdmundWhittaker [12]:

It is no exaggeration
to describeGreenas the founderof that'Cambridge
School' of naturalphilosophersof whichKelvin,Stokes,Rayleigh,Clerk
Maxwell,Lamb,Larmorand Love werethemostillustrious membersin the
laterhalfofthenineteenth century.

Itwasthrough theworkofJulianSchwinger andFreemanDyson,inthemid-1940s,

thatGreen'smathematics is nowused in quantumelectrodynamics. His physical
conceptshavefoundtheirwayintovariousbranchesof modemphysicsand are
appliedin manydifferent It is partof Green'stragedy
technologies. notonlythat
he diedat thetimehisworkwas aboutto achieverecognition butalso thathe died
withoutanyawarenessor indicationof his futuregreatness. Therehad been but
one gleamof whatmighthave been vouchsafedhimin the way of a possible
Europeanreputationin hislifetime.
In themid-1970s therecameto lightcopiesof
Green'spapersof 1838 and 1839,now in privatehands,inscribedby Greento
"Prof.JacobifromtheAuthor" Green'susual inscription. Jacobiin Konigsberg

1999 GEOGE GEEN:AN

EiGAiC
AHMTCA3

Flgure1. PlaquetoGeorge
Green
in Westminster
Abbey, dedicated
London, in July1993on the
bicentenaryof his birth.
?)George Green Memorial Fund

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was a regularrecipientof the CambridgeTransactions.One wondershow Green
came to send himextracopies. He would not have sent the papers unsolicited;he
had neitherthe academic nor the social standingto do so, nor would it have been
his nature.
These then are the bare bones of Green's story.Some knowledge of early
nineteenthcenturysocial historyand of conditionsin Nottinghamprovide a
tentativereconstruction of his environment, but how well did Green's little-known
personalityfitinto it?
To what extentdid Green's familycircumstancesproduce or fosterhis genius?
His grandfather was a farmerwhose familyhad forgenerationsworkedthe same
acres northof Nottingham.His father,George Green, apprenticedto a baker in
Nottingham,later marriedhis employer'sdaughterand set up his own business
nearby:nothingmuchhere to suggestmathematicalgenius.On the otherhand,his
cousin,WilliamTomlin,refersto a "stronginclinationfor as well as a profound
knowledgein the mathematics," as a resultof whichGreen's semi-literate fatherin
1800 sent him to Goodacre's Academy.Young George would normallyhave been
sent for a few termsto a 'writingschool' where tradesmen'ssons were taughtat
littleexpense the rudimentsof reading,writing,arithmetic,and bookkeeping.In
Nottinghamin 1800 more generalopportunitiesforlearningwere not available to
the children of artisans and the poorer classes, until religious and national
organisationsstartedsettingup schools in the 1830s and 40s. It says much for
Green Senior that he was prepared to spend good moneyon his son's education,
but afterfourtermsGeorge was withdrawnfromschool, since his knowledgeof
mathematics"far transcendedthat of his masters."This would appear to be the
onlyformaleducationGeorge Green ever received.
Goodacre's influence,however,mayhave been significant [2, pp. 17-23]. He was
proud of his collectionof "PhilosophicalInstruments,"which included"an electri-
cal machine,"magneticapparatus,and an orrery,or workingmodel of the solar
system.Goodacre laterbecame a lecturerin popular science,touringEngland and
Scotland,and from1824 to 1827 he gave lectureson astronomyin major cities in
the United States. His enthusiasticdemonstrations maywell have aroused Green's
interestin physicalphenomena, and particularlyin electricityand magnetism,
whichhe developed later in the Essay.
A more clearlydefinedinfluencecomes froma book publishedby Rev. John
Toplis, who in 1806 arrivedfromCambridgeas headmasterof the Nottingham
Free GrammarSchool. This was a translationof the firstbook of the Mecanique
Celesteof Laplace publishedin 1799. Toplis had been rankedEleventhWrangler
in 1802 and had subsequentlybeen appointed Tutor and Fellow of Queens'
College. Like Bromhead and his friendsin the AnalyticalSocietya decade later,
he was an enthusiasticconvertfromthe Newtonianfluxionstaughtin Cambridge
to the Leibnizian-based mathematicalanalysis widely used on the Continent.
Toplis publishedthe book at his own expense in Nottinghamin 1814-a lone cry
in the Nottinghamwilderness,but one heard by George Green. Here surelylies
the originof the "MathematicalAnalysis"in the titleof his Essay. In his Preface
Toplis recommendsthe studyof otherFrench mathematicians, Lagrange,Legen-
dre, and Lacroix,all of whomare quoted by Green in his text.Green even echoes
the finalparagraphof Toplis' Preface in his own-a plea for the reader's indul-
gence forshortcomings in the work,due to the distractionsof theirdailyoccupa-
tions.Toplis' book was on sale at the Nottinghambooksellersand Green obviously
studied its contents.An intriguingquestion now arises: did the author actually

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teach him? Green would have been about fourteenand startinghis apprenticeship
as a millerwhen Toplis arrivedin Nottingham.He returnedto Queens' in 1819
when Green was twenty-six. The Free GrammarSchool withits residentheadmas-
terwas less thanfiveminutes'walk fromthe Green familyhome. Given each their
passion formathematics,quite apart fromsocial factorssuch as livingin the same
neighbourhood,it seems quite possible that Toplis could have been Green's
mentor,an interesting hypothesisforwhichthereis onlycircumstantial evidence.
Apart fromGoodacre and Toplis, there appears to be no furtherinfluenceon
Green's developmentuntilhe joined the NottinghamSubscriptionLibraryin 1823.
In his dailyworkin the mill,however,Green was well aware of the mathematics
underlying its constructionand mechanics.In 1828 a self-important minormathe-
maticianfromLondon visitedNottingham:"I heard of a youngmiller[Green was
of the name of Green, who had been printinga quarto, in whichhe
thirty-five!]
had investigatedwith La Place-like precision the laws of supposed electrical
action."Sir RichardPhillipswas scathingon the questionof contemporary physics
-on "Ivory'swaste of time about imaginarycapillaryattraction,and La Place's
whimsicalspeculationsabout gravificatoms,"and regretsthat "Mr. Green has
spent so much ingenuityin misapplyinghis sound mathematicallearningupon it"
[10]. Sir Richard does condescend, however,to admire Green's mathematical
calculations:"His sails have a radius of twelveyardsand revolvetwenty-five times
a minute,or more than a mile at the extremities. This greatvelocitycarriesround
the stones,whichare sixteenfeetin circumference, 162 timesa minute... ," and so
on. Green's response to this visitcan only be imagined:he may have wondered
whether,in meetingSir Edward Bromheadtwoyearslater,he would encountera
second Sir RichardPhillips.
As a memberof the BromleyHouse Library,Green entereda world different
fromthe one he knew. It helped both his intellectualand social development.
Intellectuallyhe was in a class of his own; in fiveyearshe would publishthe Essay.
What must be borne in mind, however, is that Green was not the usual
gentleman-scholar of the period.He had neitherthe leisurenor the education.He
was a workingmillerwith ageing parents, a growingfamily,and considerable
businessresponsibilities. It is reasonable to assume, however,that he was already
familiarwiththe workof the FrenchanalystsadvocatedbyToplis. He would have
absorbed muchof the physicswiththe mathematicsand appears to have fastened
onto electricityand magnetismas topics for furtherstudy. So what had the
NottinghamSubscriptionLibraryto offer?
Of the few titleslisted under Natural Philosophyin the Library,it is unlikely
thatanywould have been of use to Green,since at thisstagehe was virtually at the
cuttingedge of continentalscience in his particularfield and would shortly
producehis functionsand his Theorem.The currenttaste lay in Moral Philosophy,
in literature,history,
theology,travel,and biography.The dozen or so books,listed
under Natural Philosophy-such as Hutton's Course of Mathematicsof 1798 and
Gregory'sTreatiseof Mechanicsof 1806-were writtenby professorsat the Royal
MilitaryAcademy at Woolwich and served primarilyas textbooksfor their stu-
dents. These were doubtlesshelpfulto some of the Librarymembers,but it was
Biot's Traitede Physiqueof 1816, relatingthe recentexperimentsin electricityof
Coulomb, which Green found more useful and which he must have acquired
independently.What he undoubtedlyfound usefulwere the Transactionsof the
Royal Societyof London. It is obviousboth fromthe Prefaceto the Essay and his
lettersto Bromhead that Green trawledthroughthe Transactions. (Unfortunately

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for Green, the Librarydid not subscribeto the PhilosophicalMagazine,whichhe
would have foundhelpful,but whichhe had probablyneverheard of,the Library
memberspreferring to read the more popular Gentleman'sMagazine instead.)
Green's primarysources for the "Theories of Electricityand Magnetism"
discussed in the Essay were the memoirsof Poisson. Those on electricity were
published by the Institutde France in 1811 and 1812; the firstof several on
magnetismby the Academie des Sciences in 1821. The questionsinevitablyarise:
how did Green in his isolationin Nottinghamknowof theirexistenceand where
did he findthem?The answerto the firstis straightforward, since theywere listed
in the "Presents"recorded in the annual Transactionsof the Royal Society,to
whichGreen had access in the Library.But where did he findthem?Booksellers
could orderpublishedtexts,but memoirs?There were copies available to Fellows
in the Libraryof the Royal Societyin London and it was possible forFellows to
accompany,or providea suitable letterof introductionfor,a non-member.This
appears to be the onlywaythatGreen would have had access to Poisson'smemoirs
on electricity-twomemoirs"of singularelegance which to be duly appreciated
[sic] mustbe read,"statesGreen in the Prefaceto his Essay, and thiswould be no
idle statementon his part. There was one Fellow of the Royal Society in
Nottinghamat this time. Dr. John Storer had been the firstPresident of the
BromleyHouse Libraryfrom1816 to 1821 and was a well known local figure.
Earlier he had been instrumentalin settingup the new Lunatic Asylum in
Sneinton, where old George Green was by then a prosperous miller and a
churchwardenof St. Stephen's. Could Dr. Storer have provided George Green
witha letterof introduction to the Librarianof the Royal Society?
Anothersource lies in the abstractspublished in the scientificjournals. The
Librarysubscribedto threesuchjournalspriorto 1828. An entryin the minutesof
1825 recordsa decision to subscribeto Brewster'sEdinburghJoumalof Science,
foundedthe previousyear, and it may be presumedthat Thompson's Annals of
Philosophyand the Quarterly Joumalof Scienceand theArtshad been taken from
an earlierdate. The latterpublishedin 1824 an extendedextractin translationof
Poisson's memoiron magnetismof Februaryof that year and read to the Royal
Academyof Science, and also a second,in 1825,of a furtherextractof his memoir
of December 1824, thoughit is the earlier memoirsof 1821 and 1822 to which
Green makes more frequentreferencesin the Essay [9]. Presumablyhe already
had access to these,as he had to the earliermemoirson electricity. Apartfromthe
memoirsof Poisson, it would appear that Green's knowledgeof earlierwritingon
and magnetismwas otherwiseconfinedto the fewpapers in the Royal
electricity
SocietyTransactions. He opens the Essay witha referenceto Cavendish'spaper on
electricityof 1771 (in whichhe identifiesand correctsan unsatisfactory proposi-
tion),but as "[L]ittleappears to have been effectedin the mathematicaltheoryof
since then,he moves straightto Poisson's Memoirsof "about 1812."
electricity"
A more subtleinfluenceon Green's developmentmaybe foundin the commu-
nityand activitiesof the BromleyHouse Libraryitself[6], [2, pp. 43-58]. Green's
fiveyears'membershipof the Libraryup to 1828,and his associationwithits more
academic and professionalmembers,would have provideda valuable contrastto
his normal workinglife and his contactswith tradespeople and labourers. The
Library'ssecond President,Rev. White Almond,was, like Toplis, a mathematics
graduate fromQueens' Cambridge;theywere both local men of similarage and
theirlivesin Nottinghamoverlappedfrom1814 to 1819. Almondwas a memberof
the Royal AstronomicalSociety;he owned a telescope and was an eager partici-
pant in the Debating Society,which also met in BromleyHouse. Dr. Alexander

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Manson was a Fellow of the Royal Societyof Edinburghand one of the town's
leading physicians;he pioneered the use of iodine in surgery.There were several
clergymen,either in beneficesor proprietorsof schools. The Libraryhad been
formedprimarily forthe edificationof its members,but it soon became the town's
centreof cultureand scientificinterest.It sponsoredlectures,enlivenedbymodels
and demonstrations,on chemistry,electricityand magnetism,mechanics, and
astronomy, and it hosted itinerantlecturers,of whomRobert Goodacre became a
successfulexample.In responseto growingworkingclass aspirationsand demands
foreducation,the more philanthropicmembersof the Librarywere instrumental
in settingup the Mechanics Institutein 1824 and later the 'Artizans Library.'
Green's membershipthus coincidedwitha period of considerableinterestin the
promotionof popular scientificknowledge,which possibly accounted for the
supportof the twenty-five memberswho subscribedto the publicationof his Essay.
Green, with a modest local reputationbut no influence,contacts,or sponsor,
followedthe exampleof Goodacre (withwhomit would appear he mayhave kept
in touch),and Toplis (whomhe may have got to knowquite well), and published
hisworkat his own expense.He knewwell whathe was doingand realisedonlytoo
clearlyhis position.As he wroteto Bromheadin 1830:

Indeed the trifle[the Essay] would neverhave appeared beforethe public as

an independentwork if I had then possessed the means of making its
contentsknownin anyotherwaybut as I thoughtit containedsomethingnew
and fearedthatcomingfroman unknownindividualit mightnot be deemed
worthyof the notice of a learned societyI venturedto publishit at myown
risk feelingconscious at the same time that this would be attended with
certainloss [4d].

The title page announces that the Essay was printed for the author by
T. Wheelhouse,and sold byvariousbooksellersin London,Cambridge(Deighton's),
and Nottingham.By thisdate, such information was possiblya tokeninsertionfor
local prestige.The London and Cambridgefirmswere the agents for supplying
books orderedby customersat the Nottinghambooksellersand printers(oftenthe
same people), but it does not imply automatic or reciprocal distributionof
publishedtexts.The Essay is not listedin Deighton'scatalogues,and nearlytwenty
years later,as WilliamThomsonfound,theyhad not heard of it. As forpublicity,
notices in the Nottingham Joumal and the Nottingham Reviewproduced fifty-one
subscribers,all but halfa dozen fromNottingham.
All these considerationsmake a sad case forGreen but,withhis dailyresponsi-
bilities of work and family,and with his lack of informedacademic and social
to see whathe could have done in his circumstances.
contacts,it is difficult At least
he had the initiative,and fortunatelythe finance,to go forprivatepublication.
It was the "MathematicalAnalysis"in the titleof Green's Essay that presum-
ably provokedBromhead'sinterest,in view of his Cambridgeexperiences.Green
sentBromheadhis copyon April 19th1828witha note of thanksand appreciation.
The onlyextantexampleof Bromhead'sparticipationin the correspondenceis the
draftof a reply,foundamonghis letters,offering to sponsorthe publicationof any
furtherpapers in one of the learned societies since, as he wrote in 1845, he
realised the Essay "must be a completefailureand dead born."It was nearlytwo
yearsbeforeBromheadreceivedan answerto his offer,which,apartfromthe brief
note sentwiththe Essay,was the firstletterof the dozen Green would writein the

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nextfouryears:

Sneintonnear Nottingham Jan 19th1830

Sir
From some observationsmade to me last Saturdayby Mr. Kidd of Lincoln I
findthatI have unintentionally been guiltyof a grossneglecton an occasion
whereof all othersI would mostcarefullyhave avoided it and thereforehope
you will pardon the libertyI am about to take in endeavouringto explainthe
circumstanceof mynot havingansweredyourveryobligingand condescend-
ing letterand thisexplanationI am the more desirousto enterinto because
nothingconnectedwiththe publicationof mylittleEssay has affordedme so
much satisfactionas thatit should have been foundin any degreeworthyof
yournotice.
Had I followedmy own inclinationI should immediatelyhave writtenin
orderto have expressedin some measuremygratitudeforthe veryhandsome
offerwithwhichyou had honoredme but on mentioningmyintentionsto a
gentlemanon whose opinion I had at an earlyage been accustomedto rely
he assured me thatno answerwould be expectedbut thaton the contraryit
would be consideredas a libertyto troubleone so muchmysuperiorfarther
untilI should be able to avail myselfof yourkind offerby forwarding some
memoir to be communicatedto one of the Royal Societies and as this
gentlemenhad seen more of the world than myselfI yielded to his opinion
though with reluctance lamentingat the same time that custom should
compel me to act in a way so much at variancewithmyown feelings.
Althoughfroma mistakennotionof proprietyI have been so long hindered
frommakingany acknowledgement forthe veryhandsomeofferyou were so
kind as to make I trustyou will do me the justice to believe thatI have felt
most sensiblythe honor conferredupon me by so much condescensionon
yourpart and that I have alwaysesteemed that offeras mostvaluable [4d].

Green then continuesby describinghis dilemmaregardingpublication,as quoted

earlier,and finishesby promisingto send a paper, a promisehe confirmsin his
nextletterof 13 February.The gentlemanwhose misguidedadvice Green followed
was probablyRobert Goodacre, recentlyreturnedfromhis Americanlecturetour;
Mr. Kidd of Lincoln has provedunidentifiable.
Green visitedBromhead at ThurlbyHall, and his subsequentlettersrecordthe
writingand publication,sponsored by Bromhead, of the three papers on topics
associated with the Essay already mentioned.With this encouragementGreen's
aspirationsgrew.It would appear fromboth Tomlin'sand Bromhead'slettersof
1845 that Green had for some time been considering,at the suggestionof
"[S]everalkindand respectedfriends"that"he should adopt an University educa-
tion." Green firstraised the issue with Bromhead in April 1833 and by the
followingJunehad made up his mind.Bromhead offeredsponsorshipto his own
college and on October 1stGreen enteredCaius College, Cambridge.This was not
an easy decisionforGreen. He could now sell the millingbusiness,whileretaining
ownershipof the mill,and live on his income.He could establishJane Smithand
their four childrennearby and use the rents of the familyhouse and mill as
additional finance. But entryto Cambridge and the acquisition of a degree
presentedconsiderablehurdlesto be overcome.Apart fromsocial disadvantages
(whenfouryearslaterhe graduated,as FourthWrangler,his successwas recorded

144 GEORGE GREEN: AN ENIGMATIC MATHEMATICIAN [February

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 i~~- vz2~ &"L4=~'>

vQv~~A& C/'Lk i? St-

~~~~~~~t~~~~~(

~ - -
(7)~~~(

~~/ /

Figure 2. Concluding paragraph of Green's second letter to Bromhead of 13 February 1830: In

consequenceof the encouragement containedin this letterI have to a certainextentrecommencedmy
mathematicalpursuitsand trustthatbeforeverylongI shall be able to drawup a littlepaper whichprobably
wouldneverhavebeeneffected butforyourkindnessand condescension-I remain-Yoursmostrespectfully
GeorgeGreen.
? MSS Department,Universityof Nottingham

by Romilly,a celebratedCambridgediaristas "Green of Caius (son of a miller)

who was expectedto be Senior Wranglerbut was onlyfourth),"his lack of formal
educationwas a furtherdisadvantage.All graduateshad to pass examinationsin
Latin and Greek before proceedingto the thirdyear degree course, elementary
enoughforyoungtwentyyearolds, ex-pupilsof grammarand independentschools
or privatehome tutors,but for Green a considerableobstacle. Among some old
mill accountswas foundone scrap of paper in Green's writingunrelatedto mill
business-"Cesar scribereet legeresimul dictateet audire solebat" (Caesar was
accustomedat the same time to write,read, dictate,and listen)-poignant evi-
dence of Green's slow climbto some level of classical literacy.His cousin William
Tomlinsummedup the situationwhen recallingGreen's attendanceat Goodacre's
Academy:

His schoolmasterssoon perceivingthis stronginclinationfor as well as

profoundknowledgein mathematicsand whichfar transcendedtheirown,
relinquishedthe directionof his studies and in consequence his literary
acquirementswere not properlypromoted: in this respect,he had when
contemplating the probabilityof goingto the Universityto pay some atten-
tion in his more matureyears[4e].

This problemstillloomed largein Green'smindin 1833. He wroteto Bromheadin

April: ... . you are aware that I have an inclination for Cambridge if there was a

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 I possess littleLatin,less Greek,have seen
fairprospectof success.Unfortunately,
too many winters,and am thus held in a state of suspense by counteracting
motives"[4f].The followingmonthhe asked Bromheadwhichcollege he thought
suitable"for a personof myage and imperfectClassical Attainments."
Bromhead did not confinehis partronageof Green merelyto recommending
himto go to Caius College.

I also gave him lettersof introductionto some of the most distinguished

charactersof the Universitythat he mightkeep his object steadilyin view
under some awe of theirnames and look upwards,not of course with any
view of trespassingon the social distinctionsof our University,
in my time
muchmore markedthan at present,but thathe mightventureto ask advice
under any emergency[4g].

Green maynot have needed Bromhead'slettersotherthanto indicatehis arrivalin

Cambridge.This again was a customof the time.WilliamThomsonin 1845 arrived
in Paris with a dozen or so. In fact Green came already with somethingof a
reputation.He had had one paper published in the CambridgeTransactionsof
1833 "Communicatedby Sir Edward French Bromhead, Bart. [Baronet],M.A.,
F.R.S.L. and E." and a second under his own name "George Green Esq., Caius
College." This latterwas againstall precedentsince the CambridgePhilosophical
Society published papers only by graduates,unlike the CambridgeMathematical
Journal,whichincludedpapers by undergraduates, such as WilliamThomson,and
outsiders,such as George Boole.
Green soon raised the expectationof being the Senior Wranglerof his year (as
would William Thomson, thoughhe came second in 1845), and he is noted by
Harvey Goodwin in the firstedition of the Dictionaryof National Biographyas
"standing head and shoulders above all in and outside of the University."In
January1837,Green was Fourth,beingbeaten bythreeyoungmen fromSt. John's
College, includingJames Joseph Sylvester,pupils of the renownedcoach John
Hymers.William Hopkins, already mentionedas William Thomson's tutor,was
anotherhighlyrespectedCambridgecoach who later became Professorof Geol-
ogy.The Cambridgecoaches took theirstudentsthroughall possible examination
questions. Since the Wrangler'srank depended on the maximumnumber of
questionsansweredand thus marksgained,withoutthe necessityof givingmuch
mathematicalthoughtto the problem set, it is perhaps not surprisingthat in
the eventGeorge Green,withhis own brand of mathematicalgenius,did not gain
firstplace.
Green stayedon in Cambridgeawaitingelectionto a Fellowship.As a graduate
he could now become a Fellow of the CambridgePhilosophicalSociety.Duringthe
twoand a halfyears'intervalhe wroteand publishedhis sixfurther papers on wave
theoryin the Transactions-on one occasion at least readinga paper at the same
meetingas WilliamWhewell. He was now workingin the main streamof Cam-
bridge-and indeed European-research, as the papers sent to Jacobi and refer-
ences to a youngergenerationof French scientists,such as Fresnel and Cauchy,
would suggest.In the lightof his currentresearch,it is perhapsnot surprising that
Green appears to have given littlethoughtto the Essay of nearlytwentyyears
earlier,despite his quiet distributionof copies to Hopkins and to the Cambridge
PhilosophicalSociety and Caius College Libraries.As it was, Thomson'syouthful
enthusiasmensured re-publicationof the Essay on the Continent,but he con-
fessedto a lifelongregretthatas editorhe had not thoughtto reprintthe Essay in

146 GEORGE GREEN: AN ENIGMATIC MATHEMATICIAN [February

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the Cambridgeand Dublin MathematicalJoumal, successor to the Cambridge
Mathematical Joumal[4h].
Green'slast recordedletterto Bromheadis dated May 22nd 1834,writtenin the
middle of his firstyear examinations.Afterdiscussionof the publicationof his
second paper, publishedthe followingyear,he concludes:

I am veryhappy here and I fear too much pleased with Cambridge.This

takes me in some measure fromthose pursuitswhichoughtto be myproper
businessbut I hope on myreturnto lay aside myfreshnessesand become a
regularsteadySecond Year man [4i].

This appears to be the last writtencommunicationbetweenthe two men, though

Green may have visitedBromhead at Thurlbyin vacations.The lattermay have
thoughthis obligationsas patronwere discharged.Certainlyin his letterof 1845 he
makes no referenceto eventsin Cambridgeotherthan mentioningthe lettersof
introductionand concludesabruptlyand ratherdisconcertingly:

So muchformyknowledgeof poor Green,but I have writtento a gentleman

in Nottingham,
who mayperhapssupplyfurtherparticulars....

This led at one removeto WilliamTomlin'sletterof the same date. But a closer
look at the customof patronagein this period servesto put Green's situationin
longer focus and at the same time allows readers to adjust perceptionsof the
personalitiesof the two men involved.Patronagewas a long-establishedcustom.
The more enlightenedpatron took it as a responsibility of his social position,as
Bromhead certainlydid, in helpingGeorge Green, and later, the youngLincoln
schoolmaster,George Boole. When Bromhead receivedhis copy of the Essay, he
had difficultyin phrasinghis offerto sponsorthe publicationof any later papers,
sincehe did not knowthe social statusof the author.Realisingthatthe Directorof
the Lincoln Lunatic Asylum,of which he was Vice-President,had Nottingham
connections,he wroteto himforinformation. The answerre-assuredBromheadas
to the proprietyof his actions;at the same timeit offersposteritya furtheraccount
of Green's reputationin Nottinghamat the time of the publicationof the Essay:

1828
Sir
I learn fromNottinghamthat Mr G Green is the Son of a Miller,who has
had onlya commoneducationin the Town,but has been ever since his mind
could appreciate the value of learningimmoderatelyfond of Mathematical
pursuits,and which attainmentshave been acquired wholly by his own
perseveranceunassistedby any Tutor or Preceptor:he is now only26 or 27
yearsof age of ratherreservedhabitsattendsthe businessof the Mill,but yet
findstimeforhis favoriteMathematicalreading-
Your obt. Servant
Thos Fisher
AsylumMay 10 [4j]

Conventionalepistolaryformsdulyreflectedthe differencesin social status.Thus

Bromhead'sapparentarrogancecan be viewedas a naturalassumptionof superior-
ity-and responsibility-andGreen'sapparentobsequiousnessas a normalexpres-
sion of respectto one "so much [his] superior."Bromhead foundit easy to offer

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help, but Green had difficulty
in accepting it, as shown by his reply to an
unexpectedinvitationfromBromhead:

You were kind enough to mentiona journeyto Cambridgeon June24th to

see yourfriendsHerschellBabbage and otherswho constitutethe Chivalryof
BritishScience. Being as yet only a beginnerI thinkI have no rightto go
there and must defer that pleasure until I shall have become tolerably
respectableas a man of Science should thatday ever arrive.
I remainwiththe GreatestRespect
Yours Sincerely
Geo: Green [4k]

A modernreader mightassume that the associationbetweenthe two mathemati-

cians had establisheda certaindegree of equality.Not so, however.Bromhead's
letterof 1845, mentioningthe lettersof introduction, and in particular,the final
referenceto "poor Green"-with the significant omissionof title-reveals clearly
enough the true situation,one reflectedin the meetingof Green and Sir Richard
Phillips,thoughwith the overtonesof ignoranceand complacencyabsent in the
case of Bromhead.
A moreattractivefeatureof patronagewas the factorof disinterestedness, since
each side was activated by a common interestin science and each served its
advancement.There are two interesting reflectionsof this approach in the Brom-
head correspondence.In his thirdletterto Bromhead,writtenin May 1832,Green
writes:

I cannot conclude withoutexpressingmygratitudeforyour kind assistance

whichcan onlyhave arisen froma liberal desire to forwardthe interestsof
scienceby encouragingeven the mosthumblecultivators
I remainwiththe greatestrespect
Yours VerySincerely
Geo: Green [41]

Bromheadexpressesthe same sentimentin his letterto Whewellof Novemberof

that year when discussingeditorialchanges to Green's paper on the equilibrium
of fluids:

Would it be too greata favorto requestthatyou would become Gardenerin

this pruning... . Mr. Green had retiredin despair frommathematicsand
undertookthis memoirat myrequest,fromwhichyou will see that a little
encouragementmay secure him as a Recruit to the verysmall troop who
serveunderthe severe sciences... [4m].

The storyof Bromhead'spatronagehighlightsGreen's dilemma.Given his social

status, his personal circumstances,his self-confessedlimited knowledge of the
world,and his lack of academic contacts,it seems evidentthatGreen could never
have made his way alone. Bromhead's patronage was vital to his work and
intellectualadvancement.Unfortunately both were cut short by Green's early
death in 1841.
Green's posthumousreputationproved as varied and uncertain as his life.
Referencehas alreadybeen made to his lack of reputationin Nottinghamand to
his irregularfamilysituation. These are closely linked. Green never openly

148 GEORGE GREEN: AN ENIGMATIC MATHEMATICIAN [February

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acknowledged the existenceof JaneSmithand theirsevenchildren, thoughthey
werewell providedforin his will,and, untilhis finalreturnfromCambridge,
Greenand JaneSmithare notknownto havelivedunderthesame roof.Green
died,however, in thehousewhereJanethenlivedat 3 Notintone Place,opposite
St. Stephen'sChurchand a stone'sthrowfromthemill.Mrs.JaneGreen,as she
had alwaysbeenknown, continuedtoliveinthehouseafterGreen'sdeathandwas
laterburiedin a graveadjoininghis.Local hearsayreported
thatGreenSeniorhad
opposed marriage;later,Green'saspirationsfor Cambridgeand a Fellowship
dictatedcelibacy,sinceprospective Fellowshad to be unmarried.Furthermore,
Victoriansocietyimposeda strictmoralcode underwhichillegitimacywas a social
disgraceand Green'ssurviving Jane,George,Elizabeth,and Clara,while
children,

. .. ....
J

Figure3. Green
s Mill m SnemtonNottingham builtinGreen~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.
...
1807 ... by his fatherwhereGeorge
.......
labouredforover~~~~~~~~~~.
.twenty
. yer.I.asrstrd.n195asameoia.o i b heGoreGre
Fund~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.
Memorial unde it.oudrchimn.rfesr.areChli
?MSS Department UniversityofNottingham~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~--
-----------
---
1999] ....149~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GEORGEGREEN AN ENIGMATICMATHEMATICIAN

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livingcomfortably, bore its stigma.Jane and Elizabeth married,but George, who
took a mathematicsdegree at St. John's,Cambridge in his late twenties,was
obliged to hide his identityso as not to compromisethe memoryof his father,
and committedsuicide in London at the age of forty-a furthersocial disgraceat
thisperiod.
Only the youngest,Clara, remained,dyingin the poor hospital in 1919 aged
seventy-eight. She lies buriedin a cornerof the towncemeteryand her forlornand
neglectedgravewas discoveredonly a fewyears ago. She inheritedfinallyall of
Green's once-prosperousestate of 1841, the mill, the familyhouse, and land,
togetherwith propertyin Sneinton and Nottingham,but all had been heavily
mortgagedand she leftonlydebts. On her death the familywas presumedextinct,
and the Crowndisposed of her effects.The millwas in a ruinedstate,not having
been workedsince the 1860s. It was restoredto fullworkingorderin 1985 by the
George Green Memorial Fund. Clara Green, a colourfuland eccentricfigure,
reputedlylivedin a hutin the gardenof one of the Sneintonhouses she owned and
on her death neighbourscleared out all the rubbishand papers and burntthem.
This could possiblyaccountforthe factthatnone of Green'swritingshas survived.
One can now appreciatewhyGreen's name and reputationwere unrecognised
in Nottinghamuntil the restorationof his mill and the celebrations of the
bicentenaryof his birthin 1993. These culminatedin the dedicationof a plaque to
Green in WestminsterAbbey in London. This lies nextto Newton'sgrave in the
Sanctuaryand in close proximity to similarplaques to Faraday,Kelvin,and Clerk
Maxwell.The celebrationswere attendedbyfourteenblood descendantsof George
Green, twofromCanada and one fromNew York,withmembersof theirfamilies,
twentyfivein all. This surprisingtwistto the Green storyis explainedby the fact
that Green's eldest daughterJane, the only one of the seven childrento have
offspring, left one son, George Green Moth. His six childrenwere born in two
marriages,at fortyyears'interval,and the two families,who grewup in ignorance
of each other'sexistence,were traced in the 1970s and 80s. They were unitedfor
the firsttimein Nottinghamat the Civic Serviceof Thanksgiving in St. Stephen's
Churchon 13 July1993,the eve of the bicentenaryof theirancestor'sbirth.

REFERENCES

1. Burkhardt,H. and Mayer,F. W. F. 1900. Potentialtheorie,in Encyklopaedieder mathematischen

Wissenschaften,1900,vol. 2, pt. A. 464-503(articleIIA7b).
2. Cannell, D. M., GeorgeGreen,Mathematicianand Physicist, 1793-1841, Athlone Press, London,
1993.
3. Grattan-Guinness,I., Why did George Green write his Essay of 1828 on Electricityand
Magnetism?Amer. MathMonthly102 (1995) 387-396.
4. The followingextractsare fromlettersin GeorgeGreen:A Catalogueof Books and Manuscripts
associatedwithGreen,Departmentof Manuscripts& Special Collections,Universityof Notting-
ham. For longerextractsand discussionof contentsand contexts,see [2].
a. G.G. Cat. 4A 5: Bromhead'sletterof April 13th 1845 to Caius College Cambridge.
b G.G. Cat. 4A 6ii: WilliamTomlin(per J. C. Williams)to BromheadApril 10th1845.
c G.G. Cat. 4A: Kelvinto Sir JosephLarmor,November19th 1907.
d G.G. Cat. 4B2: Green to Bromhead,January19th1830.
e G.G. Cat. 4A 6ii: Tomlin 1845.
f G.G. Cat. 4B 16: Green to Bromhead,April 13th1833.
g G.G. Cat. 4A 5: Bromhead 1845.
h G.G. Cat. 4A: Kelvin 1907.
i G.G. Cat. 4B 22: Green to Bromhead,May 22nd 1834.
j G.G. Cat. 4B 24: Thomas Fisherto Bromhead,May 10th1828.
k G.G. Cat. 4B 22: Green to Bromhead,May 1833.

150 GEORGE GREEN: AN ENIGMATIC MATHEMATICIAN [February

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All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 1 G.G. Cat. 4B 4: Green to Bromhead,May 17th1832.
m G.G. Cat. 4B 8: Bromheadto WilliamWhewell,November26th 1832.
5. Green,H. G., Biographyof George Green,MathematicalPhysicistof Nottinghamand Cambridge,
1793-1841. In Essays and Studiesin the Historyof Science and Learninged. M. A. Montague,
Schuman,New York, 1945,pp. 544-592.
6. Inkster,I., ScientificCultureand Education in Nottingham1800-1843. ThorotonSocietyTransac-
tions1978 (University of NottinghamHallwardLibrary,Local StudiesDepartment):[2, pp. 43-58].
7. Liutzen,J.,JosephLiouville,Springer,New York, 1990,pp. 135-141.
8. Murphy,R., On the inversemethod of definiteintegralswith physicalapplications,Cambridge
PhilosophicalTransactions, IV (1833) 353-408.
9. Quarterly Journalof Science and theArts,17 no. 34 (1824) 317-34, Extractof a memoiron the
Theoryof MagnetismbyM. Poisson,read to the Royal Academyof Science 2nd February1824, 19
no. 39 (1825) 122-32, Second memoiron the Theoryof Magnetismby M. Poisson, read to the
Royal Academyof Science, 27th December 1824.
10. Syer,G., A Visit to Nottinghamin 1828, in Nottinghamshire Historian1994. NottinghamCounty
Library,Local Studies Department.
11. Thompson,S. P., Life ofLord Kelvin,London, Macmillan,1910, Vol. I, pp. 115-119.
12. Whittaker,E., Historyof theTheoriesofAetherand Electricity,London, Nelson, 1910,p. 153.

MARY CANNEL, born in Liverpool,U.K., confessesto havinghad the temerity to writethe biography
of George Green, although she is neither a mathematiciannor a physicist.She graduated from
LiverpoolUniversity in Frenchand History,and forsome yearstaughtstudentsin schools and colleges
in England and abroad, beforeembarkingon the trainingof teachers.She retiredas Principalof the
College of Education in Nottingham,where she became interestedin the life of the town's long
neglected genius. She published her biographyof Green in 1993, the year of the bicentenary
celebrationsof his birth.She is the Secretaryof the George Green MemorialFund, based in the Physics
Departmentof NottinghamUniversity. The Fund instigatedthe restorationof Green's Mill in Notting-
ham and the dedicationof a plaque in his honourin WestminsterAbbey in London. For more about
George Green, mathematicianand physicist, visithttp://www.nottingham.ac.uk/nppzwww/green/.
c/o Mrs.Linda Wightman, PhysicsDepartment, University
ofNottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
ppzlaw@ppnl.nottingham.ac.uk

1999] GEORGE GREEN: AN ENIGMATIC MATHEMATICIAN 151

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