John William Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh 2026-10-18
A physicist whose research joined waves, optics, acoustics and precise measurement. He maintained a laboratory at Terling and served as Cavendish professor of experimental physics from 1879 to 1884. At Cambridge he developed laboratory courses; later he donated his Nobel award proceeds toward a Cavendish laboratory extension.[ref]
John William Strutt (Lord Rayleigh) by John Joseph O'Connor and Edmund Frederick Robertson. O'Connor and Robertson, biography: Terling laboratory; Cavendish professorship and laboratory courses; donation of Nobel proceeds
The Rayleigh-Ramsay argon density experiment, pursued with William Ramsay, connects a small discrepancy in gas weighing to chemical separation. Its lesson is practical: agreement within one preparation method does not ensure that a second method produces the same chemical substance. The gas density model explains how composition and filling conditions both affect the readout.
Lord Rayleigh, portrait from the MacTutor picture collection
. 