John Scott Russell

John Scott Russell (9 May 1808, Glasgow – 8 June 1882) was a Scottish naval engineer who built the Great Eastern (the largest ship built at that time) in collaboration with Isambard Kingdom Brunel, and made the discovery that gave birth to the modern study of solitons. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE). He was probably elected as FRSE in 1837 according to the website of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. He was also elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) of London in 1849, as seen in Emmerson's book and also in his obituary published in the Proceedings of Royal Society (London), vol. 34 (1882-1883), pp. xv-xvii. Photo of the John Scott Russell. ... Photo of the John Scott Russell. ... is the 129th day of the year (130th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1808 (MDCCCVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Wednesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... For other uses, see Glasgow (disambiguation). ... is the 159th day of the year (160th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1882 (MDCCCLXXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... This article is about the country. ... Steamer New York in c. ... The SS Great Eastern was an iron sailing steam ship designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. ... Isambard Kingdom Brunel, FRS (9 April 1806 – 15 September 1859) (IPA: ), was a British engineer. ... In mathematics and physics, a soliton is a self-reinforcing solitary wave (a wave packet or pulse) that maintains its shape while it travels at constant speed; solitons are caused by a delicate balance between nonlinear and dispersive effects in the medium. ...

Early life

He was born in a village close to Glasgow of Scotland in 1808. His middle name was actually the maiden family name of his mother. He graduated from the University of Glasgow in 1825, and moved on to Edinburgh University where he taught mathematics and natural philosophy. Master of Theology (MTh) Dentistry Nursing Affiliations Russell Group, Universitas 21 Website http://www. ... Opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway 1825 (MDCCCXXV) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... The University of Edinburgh was founded in 1583 as a renowned centre for teaching in Edinburgh, Scotland. ... Euclid, Greek mathematician, 3rd century BC, as imagined by by Raphael in this detail from The School of Athens. ... Natural philosophy or the philosophy of nature, known in Latin as philosophia naturalis, is a term applied to the objective study of nature and the physical universe that was regnant before the development of modern science. ...

The wave of translation

In 1834, while conducting experiments to determine the most efficient design for canal boats, he discovered a phenomenon that he described as the wave of translation. In fluid dynamics the wave is now called a Russell solitary wave or soliton. The discovery is described here in his own words: Year 1834 (MDCCCXXXIV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Fluid dynamics is the sub-discipline of fluid mechanics dealing with fluids (liquids and gases) in motion. ... In mathematics and physics, a soliton is a self-reinforcing solitary wave (a wave packet or pulse) that maintains its shape while it travels at constant speed; solitons are caused by a delicate balance between nonlinear and dispersive effects in the medium. ...

"I was observing the motion of a boat which was rapidly drawn along a narrow channel by a pair of horses, when the boat suddenly stopped - not so the mass of water in the channel which it had put in motion; it accumulated round the prow of the vessel in a state of violent agitation, then suddenly leaving it behind, rolled forward with great velocity, assuming the form of a large solitary elevation, a rounded, smooth and well-defined heap of water, which continued its course along the channel apparently without change of form or diminution of speed. I followed it on horseback, and overtook it still rolling on at a rate of some eight or nine miles an hour, preserving its original figure some thirty feet long and a foot to a foot and a half in height. Its height gradually diminished, and after a chase of one or two miles I lost it in the windings of the channel. Such, in the month of August 1834, was my first chance interview with that singular and beautiful phenomenon which I have called the Wave of Translation".

(Note: This passage has been repeated in many papers and books on soliton theory.)

(Note: "Translation" here means that there is real mass transport such that water can be transported from one end of the canal to the other end by this "Wave of Translation". Usually there is no real mass transport from one side to another side for ordinary waves.)

J. Scott Russell. Report on waves, Fourteenth meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, 1844.

Russell spent some time making practical and theoretical investigations of these waves, he built wave tanks at his home and noticed some key properties:

• The waves are stable, and can travel over very large distances (normal waves would tend to either flatten out, or steepen and topple over)
• The speed depends on the size of the wave, and its width on the depth of water.
• Unlike normal waves they will never merge — so a small wave is overtaken by a large one, rather than the two combining.
• If a wave is too big for the depth of water, it splits into two, one big and one small.

Russell's experimental work seemed at contrast with the Isaac Newton and Daniel Bernoulli's theories of hydrodynamics. George Biddell Airy and George Gabriel Stokes had difficulty to accept Russell's experimental observation because Russell's observations could not be explained by linear water wave theory. His contemporaries spent some time attempting to extend the theory but it would take until 1895 before Diederik Korteweg and Gustav de Vries provided the theoretical explanation (D.J. Korteweg and G. de Vries; On the Change of Form of Long Waves advancing in a Rectangular Canal and on a New Type of Long Stationary Waves; Philosophical Magazine, 5th series, 39, 1895, pp. 422--443). Sir Isaac Newton FRS (4 January 1643 – 31 March 1727) [ OS: 25 December 1642 – 20 March 1727][1] was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, and alchemist. ... Daniel Bernoulli Daniel Bernoulli (February 8, 1700 – March 17, 1782) was a Dutch-born mathematician who spent much of his life in Basel, Switzerland where he died. ... Hydrodynamics is fluid dynamics applied to liquids, such as water, alcohol, oil, and blood. ... George Biddell Airy Sir George Biddell Airy (or Airey) FRS (July 27, 1801–January 2, 1892) was British Astronomer Royal from 1835 to 1881. ... Sir George Gabriel Stokes, 1st Baronet (13 August 1819–1 February 1903) was an Irish mathematician and physicist, who at Cambridge made important contributions to fluid dynamics (including the Navier-Stokes equations), optics, and mathematical physics (including Stokes theorem). ... Year 1895 (MDCCCXCV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Diederik Johannes Korteweg (1848-1941) was a Dutch mathematician. ... Gustav de Vries (1866-1934) was a Dutch mathematician, who is best remembered for his work on the Korteweg-de Vries equation with Diederik Korteweg. ...

(Note: Lord Rayleigh published a paper in Philosophical Magazine in 1876 to support John Scott Russell's experimental observation with his mathematical theory. In his 1876 paper, Lord Rayleigh mentioned Russell's name and also admitted that the first theoretical treatment was by Joseph Valentin Boussinesq in 1871. Joseph Boussinesq mentioned Russell's name in his 1871 paper. Thus Russell's observations were accepted as true by some prominent scientists within his own life time. Korteweg and de Vries did not mention John Scott Russell's name at all in their 1895 paper but they did quote Boussinesq's paper in 1871 and Lord Rayleigh's paper in 1876. The paper by Korteweg and de Vries in 1895 was not the first theoretical treatment of this subject but it was a very important milestone in the history of the development of soliton theory.) See also Rayleigh fading Rayleigh scattering Rayleigh number Rayleigh waves Rayleigh-Jeans law External links Nobel website bio of Rayleigh About John William Strutt MacTutor biography of Lord Rayleigh Categories: People stubs | 1842 births | 1919 deaths | Nobel Prize in Physics winners | Peers | British physicists | Discoverer of a chemical element ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Valentin Joseph Boussinesq. ...

It was not until the 1960s and the advent of modern computers that the significance of Russell's discovery in physics, electronics, biology and especially fibre optics started to become understood, leading to the modern general theory of solitons. This is a discussion of a present category of science. ... This article is about the engineering discipline. ... Biology studies the variety of life (clockwise from top-left) E. coli, tree fern, gazelle, Goliath beetle Biology (from Greek: βίος, bio, life; and λόγος, logos, knowledge), also referred to as the biological sciences, is the study of living organisms utilizing the scientific method. ... Fiber Optic strands An optical fiber in American English or fibre in British English is a transparent thin fiber for transmitting light. ... In mathematics and physics, a soliton is a self-reinforcing solitary wave (a wave packet or pulse) that maintains its shape while it travels at constant speed; solitons are caused by a delicate balance between nonlinear and dispersive effects in the medium. ...

Ship building

Brunel (right, man with cigar in mouth) at the launching of the Great Eastern with John Scott Russell (left) and Lord Derby (middle).

Russell moved to London in 1844, and organised the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851. He worked on the design of yachts, boats, barges and ships, and he became a director of a ship-building company. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Jan. ... Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 is an institution founded in 1850 to administer the international exhibition of 1851, officially called the Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations, held in The Crystal Palace. ...

He was held in high regard by Isambard Kingdom Brunel who made him a partner in his project to build the Great Eastern. At its time, this was to be the largest moveable object man had ever created. The project was plagued with a number of problems — Russell was in financial difficulties and the two men disagreed on a number of aspects of the design and construction of the ship. The Great Eastern was eventually launched in 1858. Isambard Kingdom Brunel, FRS (9 April 1806 – 15 September 1859) (IPA: ), was a British engineer. ... The SS Great Eastern was an iron sailing steam ship designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. ... Year 1858 (MDCCCLVIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ...

The American engineer Alexander Lyman Holley befriended Russell and his family on his various visits to London at the time of the construction of Great Eastern. Holley also visited Russell's house in Sydenham. As a result of this, Holley, and his colleague Zerah Colburn, travelled on the maiden voyage of Great Eastern from Southampton to New York in June 1860. Russell's son, Norman, stayed with Holley at his house in Brooklyn — Norman also travelled on the maiden voyage, one voyage that John Scott Russell did not make. Alexander Lyman Holley (born 20 July 1832 - died 29 January 1882) was a mechanical engineer and was considered the foremost steel and plant engineer and designer of his time, especially in regard to applying research to modern steel manufacturing processes. ... Zerah Colburn (1804-1840) was a famous child prodigy of the 19th century. ...

Russell was a better scientist than a businessman and his reputation never fully recovered from his financial irregularities and disputes.

Miscellany

Russell made the first experimental study of the Doppler effect. Christian Doppler published his theory in 1842. In 1848, Russell reported his study of the Doppler effect. (J.S. Russell, "On certain effects produced on sound by the rapid motion of the observer", Brit. Assn. Rep., vol. 18, p. 37 (1848).) A source of waves moving to the left. ... Christian Doppler Johann Christian Andreas Doppler (November 29, 1803 – March 17, 1853) was an Austrian mathematician and physicist, most famous for the hypothesis of what is now known as the Doppler effect which is the apparent change in frequency and wavelength of a wave that is perceived by an observer... A source of waves moving to the left. ...

His 1844 paper has become a classical paper and is quite frequently cited in soliton-related papers or books even after more than one hundred and fifty years. "Report on Waves": (Report of the fourteenth meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, York, September 1844 (London 1845), pp. 311-390, Plates XLVII-LVII). In mathematics and physics, a soliton is a self-reinforcing solitary wave (a wave packet or pulse) that maintains its shape while it travels at constant speed; solitons are caused by a delicate balance between nonlinear and dispersive effects in the medium. ...

He had written two books before his death:

1. J Russell, The Modern System of Naval Architecture (London, 1865).

2. J Russell, The Wave of Translation in the Oceans of Water, Air and Ether (London, 1885).

His second book was probably published after his death in 1882.

His obituary was published in the Proceedings of Royal Society (London), vol. 34 (1882-1883), pp. xv-xvii. It is interesting to note that in his obituary it was mentioned that John Scott Russell was a very gifted person but did not contribute papers to the Royal Society of London but to other organizations like the Royal Society of Edinburgh, British Association, etc. His great discovery regarding his solitary wave of translation was not mentioned in his obituary published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society (London).

His wife was Harriette. They had a daughter, Louise, and a son, Norman.

A book was written by George Sinclair Emmerson on John Scott Russell with the title John Scott Russell: a great Victorian engineer and naval architect, which was published in 1977. However, this book has very little discussion on the discovery of solitons by John Scott Russell. In 2005, Olivier Darrigol published a book Worlds of Flow, which covers the history of hydrodynamics from the years before John Scott Russell and to many years after his death. Inside this book, Darrigol provided a comprehensive list of classical papers written by John Scott Russell and other scientists on hydrodynamics. The book by Darrigol has a much better discussion on the discovery of solitons.

In 1995, the aqueduct which carries the Union Canal – the same canal where he observed his Wave of Translation – over the Edinburgh Bypass (A720) was named the Scott Russell Aqueduct in his memory. Also in 1995, the hydrodynamic soliton effect was reproduced near the place where John Scott Russell observed hydrodynamic solitons in 1834. The Union Canal is a 50 km (31. ...

Further reading

• Mortimer, John. Zerah Colburn: The Spirit of Darkness Arima Publishing ISBN 1-84549-024-X

External links

• John Scott Russell and the solitary wave