George Gabriel Stokes

Biography

Graduated from Cambridge University (Pembroke College). From 1849 to 1903 he held the post of Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge. Collaborated with William Thomson (Lord Kelvin) in the fields of hydrodynamics and optics. Was president of the Royal Society (1885–1890), awarded the Copley Medal (1893).

Key discoveries

• Stokes' theorem: generalizes Green's and Ostrogradsky-Gauss theorems, linking the integral of the curl of a vector field over a surface to the contour integral over its boundary.
• Navier-Stokes equations: fundamental equations of motion of a viscous fluid, underlying modern hydrodynamics.
• Stokes' law for the drag force on a sphere in a viscous fluid: F = 6πμrv.
• Stokes shift in fluorescence: explained that the wavelength of emitted light is longer than the wavelength of absorbed light.