At the University of Cambridge in England, a "Wrangler" is a student who gains first-class honours in the Mathematical Tripos competition. The highest-scoring student is the Senior Wrangler, the second highest is the Second Wrangler, and so on. By contrast, the person who achieves the lowest exam marks while still earning a third-class honours degree (that is, while still earning an honours degree at all) is known as the wooden spoon.
Until 1909, the university made the rankings public. Since 1910, it has publicly revealed only the class of degree gained by each student. An examiner reveals the identity of the Senior Wrangler "unofficially" by tipping his hat when reading out the person's name, but other rankings are communicated to each student privately. Therefore, the names of only some 20th-century Senior Wranglers (such as Crispin Nash-Williams, Christopher Budd, Frank P. Ramsey, Donald Coxeter, Kevin Buzzard, Jayant Narlikar, George Reid and Ben J. Green) have become publicly known.
Another notable was Philippa Fawcett. She was educated at Newnham College, Cambridge, which had been co-founded by her mother. In 1890, Fawcett became the first woman to obtain the top score in the Cambridge Mathematical Tripos exams. Her score was 13 per cent higher than the second-highest score. When the women's list was announced, Fawcett was described as "above the senior wrangler", but she did not receive the title of senior wrangler, as at that time only men could receive degrees and therefore only men were eligible for the Senior Wrangler title. The results were always highly publicised, with the top scorers receiving great acclaim. Women had been allowed to take the Tripos since 1881, after Charlotte Angas Scott was unofficially ranked as eighth wrangler.
It was recorded that "virtually every high wrangler (for whom records exist) participated in some form of regular physical exercise to preserve his strength and stamina." [1]
Obtaining the position of a highly ranked Wrangler created many opportunities for the individual's subsequent profession. Such individuals would often become Fellows initially, before moving on to other professions. [2] Throughout the United Kingdom and the British Empire, university mathematics professors were often among the top three Wranglers. [2] [3]
The order of Wranglers was widely publicised and shaped the public perception of mathematics as being the most intellectually challenging of all subjects. According to Andrew Warwick, author of Masters of Theory, the term "Senior Wrangler" became "synonymous with academic supremacy". [1]
Top marks in the Cambridge mathematics exam did not always guarantee the Senior Wrangler success in life; the exams were largely a test of speed in applying familiar rules, and some of the most inventive and original students of Mathematics at Cambridge did not come top of their class. Lord Kelvin was second, William Henry Bragg was third, Augustus De Morgan and G. H. Hardy were fourth, Adam Sedgwick fifth, Bertrand Russell seventh, Thomas Robert Malthus ninth, John Maynard Keynes twelfth, and some fared even worse: Klaus Roth was not even a wrangler.
Joan Clarke, who helped to break the Nazi Enigma code at Bletchley Park, was a wrangler at Cambridge and earned a double first in mathematics, although she was prevented from receiving a full degree based on the university's policy of awarding degrees only to men. [4] That policy was abandoned in 1948.
The present Astronomer Royal, Martin Rees, a wrangler, went on to become one of the world's leading scientists, also holding the posts of master of Trinity College (Cambridge), and President of the Royal Society, and being a member of the Order of Merit.
Students who achieve second-class and third-class mathematics degrees are known as Senior Optimes (second-class) and Junior Optimes (third-class). Cambridge did not divide its examination classification in mathematics into 2:1s and 2:2s until 1995 [ citation needed ] but now there are Senior Optimes Division 1 and Senior Optimes Division 2.[ citation needed ]
A Tripos is an academic examination that originated at the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. They include any of several examinations required to qualify an undergraduate student for a bachelor's degree or the courses taken by a student to prepare for these. Undergraduate students studying mathematics, for instance, ultimately take the Mathematical Tripos, and students of English literature take the English Tripos.
The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure used for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied, sometimes with significant variation, in other countries and regions.
Philippa Garrett Fawcett was an English mathematician and educator. She was the first woman to obtain the top score in the Cambridge Mathematical Tripos exams. She taught at Newnham College, Cambridge, and at the normal school in Johannesburg, and she became an administrator for the London County Council.
Part III of the Mathematical Tripos is a one-year master's-level taught course in mathematics offered at the Faculty of Mathematics, University of Cambridge. It is regarded as one of the most difficult and intensive mathematics courses in the world. Roughly one third of the students take the course as a continuation at Cambridge after finishing the Parts IA, IB, and II of the Mathematical Tripos resulting in an integrated Master's (M.Math), whilst the remaining two thirds are external students who take the course as a one-year Master's (M.A.St).
The Natural Sciences Tripos (NST) is the framework within which most of the science at the University of Cambridge is taught. The tripos includes a wide range of Natural Sciences from physics, astronomy, and geoscience, to chemistry and biology, which are taught alongside the history and philosophy of science. The tripos covers several courses which form the University of Cambridge system of Tripos. It is known for its broad range of study in the first year, in which students cannot study just one discipline, but instead must choose three courses in different areas of the natural sciences and one in mathematics. As is traditional at Cambridge, the degree awarded after Part II is a Bachelor of Arts (BA). A Master of Natural Sciences degree (MSci) is available to those who take the optional Part III. It was started in the 19th century.
Wrangler may refer to:
A wooden spoon is an award that is given to an individual or team that has come last in a competition. Examples range from the academic to sporting and more frivolous events. The term is of British origin and has spread to other English-speaking countries. In most cases it is simply a colloquial term for coming last – there is no actual award given.
The Mathematical Tripos is the mathematics course that is taught in the Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge.
Charlotte Angas Scott was a British mathematician who made her career in the United States and was influential in the development of American mathematics, including the mathematical education of women. Scott played an important role in Cambridge changing the rules for its famous Mathematical Tripos exam.
Ada Isabel Maddison was a British mathematician best known for her work on differential equations.
Ananda Mohan Bose was an Indian politician, academician, social reformer, and lawyer during the British Raj. He co-founded the Indian National Association, one of the earliest Indian political organizations, and later became a senior leader of the Indian National Congress. In 1874, he became the first Indian Wrangler of the Cambridge University. He was also a prominent religious leader of Brahmoism and with Sivanath Sastri a leading light of Adi Dharm.
The Senior Wrangler is the top mathematics undergraduate at the University of Cambridge in England, a position which has been described as "the greatest intellectual achievement attainable in Britain".
John Blissard was a Church of England vicar, educator, and mathematician who invented what came to be known as the umbral calculus. Although he never held a university post, Blissard was an active mathematician, especially during the 1860s when he was in his late fifties and early sixties. He published mostly in the Cambridge-based Quarterly Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics.
Vishnu Vasudev Narlikar was an Indian physicist specializing in general relativity. He is considered "the doyen of General Relativity in India." The Centre for Theoretical Physics, Jamia Millia Islamia has instituted the annual "V. V. Narikar Memorial Lecture" in memory of him.
Robert Alfred Herman (1861–1927) was a fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, who coached many students to a high wrangler rank in the Cambridge Mathematical Tripos. Herman was senior wrangler in 1882.
This is a timeline of women in mathematics.
Sarah Woodhead (1851–1912) was the first woman to take and pass a Tripos examination. In particular, she was the first woman to take, and to pass, the Mathematical Tripos exam, which she did in 1873.
Sheila May Edmonds was a British mathematician, a Lecturer at the University of Cambridge, and Vice-Principal of Newnham College from 1960 to 1981.
The University of Cambridge is a collegiate public research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by King Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world's fourth-oldest surviving university. The history and influence of the University of Cambridge has made it one of the most prestigious universities in the world. Numerous scholarships, prizes, honors, and awards specific to the university are awarded to prospective or current students.
Mary Ellen Rickett was a British mathematician who worked for many years on the staff of Newnham College, University of Cambridge.
Information on the wranglers in the period 1860–1940 can be extracted from the BritMath database:
Many of the wranglers who made careers in mathematics can be identified by searching on "wrangler" in:
