Senior Wrangler
The Senior Wrangler is the top
Specifically, it is the person who achieves the highest overall mark among the
Many Senior Wranglers have become world-leading figures in mathematics,
.Senior Wranglers were once fêted with torchlit processions and took pride of place in the university's graduation ceremony.[2] Years in Cambridge were often remembered by who had been Senior Wrangler that year.[1]
The annual ceremony in which the Senior Wrangler becomes known was first held in the
Others who finished in the top 12
Those who have achieved second place, known as Second Wranglers, include Alfred Marshall, James Clerk Maxwell, J. J. Thomson, Lord Kelvin, William Clifford, and William Whewell.
Those who have finished between third and 12th include
History
Between 1748 and 1909, the university publicly announced the ranking,[4] which was then reported in newspapers such as The Times. The examination was considered to be by far the most important in Britain and the Empire. The prestige of being a high Wrangler was great; the respect accorded to the Senior Wrangler was immense. Andrew Warwick, author of Masters of Theory, describes the term 'Senior Wrangler' as "synonymous with academic supremacy".[5]
Since 1910, successful students in the examinations have been told their rankings privately, and not all Senior Wranglers have become publicly known as such. In recent years, the custom of discretion regarding ranking has progressively vanished, and all Senior Wranglers since 2010 have announced their identity publicly.
The youngest person to be Senior Wrangler is probably Arran Fernandez, who came top in 2013, aged 18 years and 0 months.[6] The previous youngest was probably James Wilkinson in 1939, aged 19 years and nine months.[7] The youngest up to 1909 were Alfred Flux in 1887, aged 20 years and two months[8] and Peter Tait in 1852, aged 20 years and eight months.[9]
Two individuals have placed first without becoming known as Senior Wrangler. One was the student Philippa Fawcett in 1890. At that time, although the university allowed women to take the examinations, it did not allow them to be members of the university, nor to receive degrees. Therefore, they could not be known as 'Wranglers', and were merely told how they had performed compared to the male candidates, for example, "equal to the Third Wrangler", or "between the Seventh and Eighth Wranglers". Having gained the highest mark, Fawcett was declared to have finished "above the Senior Wrangler".
The other was the mathematics professor
Derived uses of the term
Senior Wrangler's Walk is a path in Cambridge, the walk to and along which was considered to be sufficient constitutional exercise for a student aspiring to become the Senior Wrangler. The route was shorter than other walks, such as Wranglers' Walk and the Grantchester Grind, undertaken by undergraduates whose aspirations were lower.[11]
Senior Wrangler sauce is a Cambridge term for
Senior Wrangler is also the name of a
Literary references
Fictional Senior Wranglers appearing in
In George Bernard Shaw's play Mrs. Warren's Profession, the title character's daughter Vivie is praised for "tieing with the third wrangler," and she comments that "the mathematical tripos" means "grind, grind, grind for six to eight hours a day at mathematics, and nothing but mathematics."
In
In his
The compiler of crosswords for The Leader in the 1930s used 'Senior Wrangler' as a pseudonym.[15]
Coaches
The two most successful 19th-century coaches of Senior Wranglers were
Senior Wranglers and runners up, 1748–1909
During 1748–1909, the top two colleges in terms of number of Senior Wranglers were Trinity and St John's with 56 and 54 respectively. Gonville and Caius was third with 13.
Senior Wranglers since 1910
Senior Wranglers since 1910 also include:
- David Hobson[70] (Christ's College) (1940s)
- Peter Swinnerton-Dyer[71] (Trinity College) (1940s)
- Jack Leeming[72] (St John's College)
- Michael Hall[73] (Trinity College) (1950s)
See also
Notes
- ^ In years where there was a tie, individuals tied have been shown as Senior Wrangler, with the next placed candidate(s) as Proxime Accessit; strictly speaking, if n individuals are tied as Senior Wrangler, any runner up is (n+1)-st Wrangler .
- ^ Thomas Jones, the Senior Wrangler that year, acted as his tutor.
- ^ Also senior classic.
- ^ a b According to legend, Kelvin was so confident he had come top that he asked his servant to run to the Senate House and check who the Second Wrangler was. The servant returned and told him, "You, sir!" Kelvin was reportedly beaten largely on the basis of Parkinson's superior exam technique. The result was reversed in the Smith Prize. This story has also been attributed to J.J. Thomson in 1880, and others.[22]
- ^ Routh found more fame subsequently as a coach of other Senior Wranglers. Indeed for twenty-two consecutive years from 1862, one of his pupils was Senior Wrangler, and he coached twenty-seven in all. His first pupil in 1856 was Third Wrangler, and in 1858 both the Senior and Second Wrangler were coached by him.[23]
- ^ First Jewish Senior Wrangler. A special grace was passed to allow him to be graduated using a special form of the wording in order to not offend his religious beliefs.
- ^ Forsyth was one of the men who were principally responsible for the reform of the Tripos system that led to the end of the Tripos ranking.
- ^ Regulations were changed to split the class list into Parts I & II, and Part III. The examinations for the former were held in June and retained the ordered class list (in contrast to Part III), so two sets of results exist for this year.
- ^ Women were allowed to take the Tripos from 1881, when Charlotte Scott achieved the eighth highest mark (but was not officially ranked as eighth wrangler); but their results were published on a separate list and they were not officially ranked among the wranglers, so Fawcett was not officially Senior Wrangler despite receiving the highest mark on the tripos. Women students were finally admitted as full members of the university in 1948.
- ^ First Indian Senior Wrangler.
- ^ Eddington was the first person to be Senior Wrangler after only two years of study.[26]
References
- ^ a b Forfar, David (1996). "What became of the Senior Wranglers?". Mathematical Spectrum. 29 (1).
- S2CID 148477456.
- ^ "Peter Guthrie Tait" (PDF).
- ISBN 978-1-84628-790-9.
- ISBN 0-226-87375-7.
- ^ a b "Student, 18, youngest ever to come top in Cambridge maths finals". Daily Telegraph. 21 June 2013.
- ISBN 0-470-86412-5.
- ^ "To the Editor of the Spectator". The Spectator. 24 June 1899. Retrieved 6 December 2013.
- ISBN 0-8018-8011-4.
- ^ Alexanderson, Gerald L. (2000). The random walks of George Pólya. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 68.
- ISBN 0-226-47014-8.
- ^ "Brandy butter". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 9 December 2011.
- ^ Coops, Helen L (1939). 100 Games of Solitaire (Complete with layouts for playing). Whitman Publishing Company. p. 205.
- ^ Goren, Charles Henry (1961). Goren's Hoyle Encyclopedia of Games: With Official Rules and Pointers on Play, Including the Latest Laws of Contract Bridge. Greystone Press. p. 643.
- ^ "Senior Wrangler" of the Leader (1932). The Handy Crossword Companion. Odhams Press.
- OCLC 814078408.
- Littlewood, John Edensor (1953). A Mathematician's Miscellany. Methuen Publishing. p. 70.
- ^ Neale, Charles Montague (1907). The senior wranglers of the University of Cambridge, from 1748 to 1907. With biographical, & c., notes. Bury St. Edmunds: Groom and Son.
- ^ It appears that '22nd wrangler' in the entry for William Albin Garratt in Venn. "Garratt, William Albin (GRT800WA)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge. is a misprint for '2nd wrangler'; cf Neale, Charles Montague (1907), The Senior Wranglers of the University of Cambridge, from 1748 to 1907: With Biographical, etc., Notes (Bury St. Edmunds: F.T. Groom and Son; 61pp), p. 26; at all events, Garratt took the First Smith's Prize in 1804, with the Senior Wrangler, Kaye, placing Second, although Kaye also took the Senior Classical Medal (for reference without prejudice, at the time, other things being equal, undergraduates at Trinity were given preference for the Smith's Prizes)
- ^ Classical Tripos established.
- ^ Founded Hymers College.
- ^ A History of Mathematics in Cambridge
- ^ O'Connor, J. J.; Robertson, E. F. (October 2003). "Routh biography". Retrieved 6 July 2013.
- ^ An account exists of the 1882 graduation ceremony. "University Intelligence". The Times. 30 January 1882. Retrieved 25 September 2008.
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- ^ Hutchinson, Ian H. (December 2002). "Astrophysics and Mysticism: the life of Arthur Stanley Eddington". Archived from the original on 22 September 2008. Retrieved 25 September 2008.
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- ^ Uppingham School and Clare College Archives.
- ^ Wilkinson's biography at the MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive: "James Hardy Wilkinson". University of St Andrews. Archived from the original on 22 November 2008. Retrieved 6 July 2013.
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- ^ "John Denis Sargan" (PDF). Retrieved 3 April 2022.
- ^ Trinity College Cambridge,"Making Guinness Guinness – Michael Ash", The Fountain, Issue 23”
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- ^ "Letter of confirmation of first place 1992 pt II mathematical tripos" (PDF). Retrieved 6 April 2015.
- ^ "Where are they now? Ruth Hendry (1989): the only known female Senior Wrangler in history" (PDF). Retrieved 9 September 2016.
- ^ "Mathematical biography of Ben Green" (PDF). Clay Mathematics Institute. Retrieved 6 January 2011.
- ^ "Toby Gee" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 6 January 2011.
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- ^ Limb, Lottie (23 November 2020). "The maths genius who joined Cambridge Uni at 15 and took his GCSEs at 5". CambridgeshireLive. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
- ^ "Downing College News – Senior Wrangler". Archived from the original on 16 July 2014. Retrieved 22 June 2014.
- ^ "Trinity College Cambridge Annual Record 2014–2015" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 August 2016. Retrieved 10 June 2016.
- ^ Boss, Sally (2016). "The College Year". Churchill Review. Vol. 53. Churchill College, Cambridge. p. 15–18.
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