physics

George Frederick Charles Searle

George Frederick Charles Searle is a physics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand George Frederick Charles Searle rather than just read about it. In short: George Frederick Charles Searle FRS (3 December 1864 – 16 December 1954) was a British physicist and teacher. He also raced competitively as a cyclist while at the University of Cambridge.

Key takeaways

George Frederick Charles Searle belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect George Frederick Charles Searle to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of George Frederick Charles Searle from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

George Frederick Charles Searle FRS (3 December 1864 – 16 December 1954) was a British physicist and teacher. He also raced competitively as a cyclist while at the University of Cambridge.

Biography Searle was born in Oakington, Cambridgeshire, England. His father was William George Searle. As a child, he knew Clerk Maxwell, whom he considered to be a humorous individual. In 1888 he began work at the Cavendish Laboratory under J.J. Thomson, and ended up working with the lab for 55 years. After World War II, he ran the undergraduate labs. The equipment he used with Thomson to calibrate the ohm in the 1890s was still being used in the undergraduate lab.

Contributions to science Searle is known for his work on the velocity dependence of the electromagnetic mass. This was a direct predecessor of Einstein's theory of special relativity, when several people were investigating the change of mass with velocity. Following the work of Oliver Heaviside, he defined the "Heaviside ellipsoid", in which the electrostatic field is contracted in the line of motion. Those developments, when modified, were ultimately important for the development of special relativity.

Personal life Searle was married to Alice Mary Edwards; they had no children. He contracted a disease at the beginning of World War I and was alleged to have cured himself through spiritual healing. He was a Christian and lay-reader in the Church of England. Searle was a keen cyclist and travelled about proselytizing. He was an opponent of vivisection.

Selected publications

Searle was the author of papers and books, including:

Experimental Elasticity (1908) Cambridge Univ. Press Experimental Harmonic Motion: A Manual for the Laboratory, 1st edition (1915) Cambridge Univ. Press Experimental Harmonic Motion, 2nd edition (1922) Cambridge Univ. Press Experimental Optics, 1st edition (1925) Cambridge Univ. Press Experimental Optics, 2nd edition (1935) Cambridge Univ. Press Experimental Physics, (1934) Cambridge Univ. Press A Survey of the Case Against Vivisection (1936) Animal Defence and Anti-Vivisection Society Oliver Heaviside: The Man (1987) C.A.M. Publishing, England (written in 1950, published posthumously)

References

Further reading McConnell, Anita (23 September 2004). "Searle, George Frederick Charles". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/58130. (Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.)

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with George Frederick Charles Searle

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what George Frederick Charles Searle claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to George Frederick Charles Searle before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about George Frederick Charles Searle ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of George Frederick Charles Searle

In research: George Frederick Charles Searle appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses George Frederick Charles Searle in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: George Frederick Charles Searle is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1864 births, 1954 deaths, Alumni of the University of Cambridge, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for George Frederick Charles Searle outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study George Frederick Charles Searle in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what George Frederick Charles Searle means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain George Frederick Charles Searle out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is George Frederick Charles Searle in simple terms?

George Frederick Charles Searle FRS (3 December 1864 – 16 December 1954) was a British physicist and teacher. He also raced competitively as a cyclist while at the University of Cambridge.

Why does George Frederick Charles Searle matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study George Frederick Charles Searle?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on George Frederick Charles Searle.