Spottiswoode

Spottiswoode, WILLIAM, F.R.S, (1825-83), scientist, was born in London, his father being the Queen's printer. After completing his education at Harrow and Oxford, he turned his attention to scientific studies, and pursued them after succeeding his father as head of the printing establishment. He was an accomplished Orientalist and mathematician, but was most remarkable as a physicist. His greatest work is that on The Polarisation of Light, upon which there was no greater authority. He published numerous important papers, and in 1879 was elected President of the Royal Society. He was burried in Westminster Abbey.