Sydney Chapman (mathematician)

Sydney Chapman was a British mathematician and geophysicist, born in Eccles near Salford in 1888, whose work on the kinetic theory of gases, solar-terrestrial physics and the Earth's ozone layer inspired a broad range of research over many decades. He began advanced study at a technical institute in 1902 and entered the University of Manchester in 1904 at the age of 16, the last student selected for his county's scholarship. He first studied engineering in the department headed by Osborne Reynolds, and he was taught mathematics by Horace Lamb and by J. E. Littlewood, who came from Cambridge in his final year at Manchester.