This is a prize now awarded to research (graduate) students in Mathematics,
Theoretical Physics and Applied Mathematics at Cambridge University.
Dr. June Barrow-Green
has recently written an article on the history of the Smith's Prize. I am
indebted to her for permission to pass on a little of the information in her
fascinating account.
On his death in 1768 Robert Smith, Master of Trinity College, Cambridge,
previously Plumian Professor of Astronomy, left a bequest establishing two
annual prizes for proficiency in mathematics and natural philosophy to be
awarded to junior Bachelors of Arts. The prizes have been awarded every year
since, except for 1917 when there were no candidates.
In her article Dr. Barrow-Green includes the names of all winners of the
Smith's Prize from 1769 to 1940. The list contains some of the best known names
in Physics and Mathematics, as the examples below show. The article is
" 'A Corrective to the Spirit of too Exclusively Pure Mathematics': Robert
Smith (1689 - 1768) and his Prizes at Cambridge University," Annals of Science,
56
(1999), 271 - 316.
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