Lucasian Professor of Mathematics: Difference between revisions

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The incumbent of the Lucasian Chair of Mathematics, the Lucasian Professor is the holder of a mathematical professorship at Cambridge University. The post was founded in 1663 by Henry Lucas, who was Cambridge University's Member of Parliament from 1639–1640, and was officially established by King Charles II on January 18, 1664. Lucas, in his will, bequeathed his library of 4,000 volumes to the University and left instruction for the purchase of land whose yielding would provide £100 a year for the founding of a professorship. One of the requirements in Lucas' will was that the holder of the professorship should not be active in the church. Isaac Newton would later appeal to King Charles II that this requirement excused him from taking holy orders, which was compulsory for Fellows of the University at that time (save some exempt Fellowships). The King supported Newton and excused all holders of the professorship, in perpetuity, from the requirement to take holy orders.

The current Lucasian Professor of Mathematics is renowned theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking. He was appointed in 1980.

List of Lucasian Professors

References

Lucasian Chair of Mathematics website
Kevin Knox and Richard Noakes, From Newton to Hawking: A History of Cambridge University's Lucasian Professors of Mathematics ISBN 0-521-66310-5

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 *[[1969]] [[M. James Lighthill|Sir James Lighthill]]
 *[[1980]] [[Stephen Hawking]]
-==Lucasian Professor in fiction==
-In "[[All Good Things... (TNG episode)|All Good Things...]]", the last episode of the television series ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'', the android [[Data (Star Trek)|Data]] holds the Lucasian Chair after his retirement from [[Starfleet]]. This episode is set around the year [[2395]], when Q was transporting Captain Picard through time.  As stated near the end of the episode, since Captain Picard told his crew all about his experiences in the future, there is no guarantee that they will unfold the same way. In addition, Data was "killed" in the year [[2379]] in the primary Star Trek timeline ([[Star Trek: Nemesis]]), precluding the possibility that he actually ever held the Lucasian Chair in the Star Trek continuity.
 ==See also==