mathematics

William Mitchinson Hicks

William Mitchinson Hicks is a mathematics 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 Mitchinson Hicks rather than just read about it. In short: William Mitchinson Hicks, FRS (23 September 1850, in Launceston, Cornwall – 17 August 1934, in Crowhurst, Sussex) was a British mathematician and physicist. He studied at St John's College, Cambridge, graduating in 1873, and became a fellow at the college.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

William Mitchinson Hicks, FRS (23 September 1850, in Launceston, Cornwall – 17 August 1934, in Crowhurst, Sussex) was a British mathematician and physicist. He studied at St John's College, Cambridge, graduating in 1873, and became a fellow at the college. Hicks spent most of his career at Sheffield, contributing to the development of the university there. He was principal of Firth College from 1892 to 1897. In 1897, Firth College merged with two other colleges to form the University College of Sheffield, and Hicks was its first principal until 1905, when the college received its own royal charter and became the University of Sheffield. Hicks was the first vice chancellor of the university, serving from 1905. From 1883 to 1892, he was Professor of Physics and Mathematics at Sheffield, and was Professor of Physics there from 1892 to 1917. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1885. He was awarded the Royal Society's Royal Medal in 1912: "On the ground of his researches in mathematical physics." In 1921, Hicks won the Adams Prize. The Hicks Building at the University of Sheffield, which houses the departments of Physics and Astronomy, the Chemistry and Physics Workshop (formally known as the Central Mechanical Workshops) and the School of Mathematics and Statistics, is named in his honour. Hicks equation is named after him.

References

Further reading Entry for Hicks in the Royal Society's Library and Archive catalogue's details of Fellows (accessed 27 April 2008) Portraits of William Mitchinson Hicks (1850-1934), Professor of Physics at the National Portrait Gallery, London

External links Works by or about William Mitchinson Hicks at the Internet Archive

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with William Mitchinson Hicks

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what William Mitchinson Hicks claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In mathematics, 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 Mitchinson Hicks 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 Mitchinson Hicks 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 Mitchinson Hicks

In research: William Mitchinson Hicks appears in mathematics 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 Mitchinson Hicks 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 Mitchinson Hicks is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1850 births, 1934 deaths, 19th-century British mathematicians, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for William Mitchinson Hicks 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 Mitchinson Hicks in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is William Mitchinson Hicks in simple terms?

Why does William Mitchinson Hicks matter?

Because it connects several mathematics 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 Mitchinson Hicks?

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 Mitchinson Hicks.