DARWIN, SIR GEORGE HOWARD British astronomer, was born at Down, Kent, on July 9, 1845, and was the second son of Charles Darwin (q.v.) . He was edu cated at Trinity college, Cambridge (second wrangler and Smith's prizeman), of which he was elected a fellow in 1868, and where he became Plumian professor of astronomy and experimental phil osophy in 1883. His work on the application of harmonic analy sis and prediction to oceanic tides is monumental, as is his discus sion of the influence of tidal friction in determining the evolution of binary systems, with special reference to the earth and moon. In an early paper he discussed the possibility of geological changes having altered considerably the inclination of the earth's axis to the plane of its orbit, and came to a negative conclusion. These works constituted the first attempt to apply thorough dynamical analysis to cosmogony and the major problems of geological evo lution. He also carried out important work on periodic orbits in the problem of three bodies, figures of equilibrium of rotating masses of fluid and the stresses in the earth's crust produced by continents and mountains. He was awarded the gold medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1892 and the Copley Medal of the Royal Society in 1911. In 1899 Darwin was made presi dent of the Royal Astronomical Society, and of the British Asso.. ciation in 1905. He was made K.C.B. in 19o5, and he died in Cambridge on Dec. 7, 1912.
Among his works are The Tides and Kindred Phenomena in the Solar System (5898; 3rd ed., 1911) and Scientific Papers (5 vols., Cambridge University Press, 19c7-16), which has a supplementary volume edited by F. J. M. Stratton and J. Jackson, containing biographical memoirs.