engineering

William Matthews (engineer)

William Matthews (engineer) is a engineering 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 William Matthews (engineer) rather than just read about it. In short: Sir William Matthews (8 March 1844 – 8 January 1922) was a British civil engineer. He was educated at Glenalmond College and King's College London.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Sir William Matthews (8 March 1844 – 8 January 1922) was a British civil engineer. He was educated at Glenalmond College and King's College London. Matthews was born in Penzance to John and Alice Matthews. John Matthews was, at that time, the borough surveyor for Penzance. William spent a few years working for his father as an assistant surveyor before gaining work as chief assistant to John Coode. He was eventually made a partner in Coode's firm which became Coode, Son and Matthews. His most notable works with the firm were harbours and docks, many of which were undertaken for the Admiralty, and included works on Dover Harbour, Singapore Docks and the Grand Harbour in Valletta, Malta. He also undertook inspections of Cape Colony, Ceylon, Cyprus, Hong Kong and Malta harbours for the British Admiralty. On 9 July 1906, he was appointed to a Royal Commission to investigate tidal and coastal flooding in the United Kingdom, and in 1912 he was appointed to the Royal Commission on Fuel and Engines. He became an associate member of the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1870, a full member in 1876 and served as president between November 1907 and November 1908. He was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in 1901, and a Knight Commander (KCMG) of the same order in 1906. He was also made an officer of the Belgian Order of Léopold in 1894 in recognition of his work on Zeebrugge Harbour. His brother, Thomas Matthews, was from 1892 the Engineer-in-Chief of Trinity House, the British lighthouse authority.

References

Media related to William Matthews (engineer) at Wikimedia Commons

Illustrations

William Matthews (engineer) illustration

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with William Matthews (engineer)

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what William Matthews (engineer) claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, 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 William Matthews (engineer) 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 William Matthews (engineer) 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 William Matthews (engineer)

In research: William Matthews (engineer) appears in engineering 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 William Matthews (engineer) 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: William Matthews (engineer) is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1844 births, 1922 deaths, Alumni of King's College London, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for William Matthews (engineer) 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 William Matthews (engineer) in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what William Matthews (engineer) 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 William Matthews (engineer) out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is William Matthews (engineer) in simple terms?

Sir William Matthews (8 March 1844 – 8 January 1922) was a British civil engineer. He was educated at Glenalmond College and King's College London.

Why does William Matthews (engineer) matter?

Because it connects several engineering 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 William Matthews (engineer)?

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 William Matthews (engineer).