Second Wrangler. So had J. J. Thomson, discoverer of the electron. Then there was thermodynamicist Lord Kelvin, then still William Thomson, surely the best mathematician of his year. Everyone, including himself, thought he was a shoo-in for Senior Wrangler. “Oh, just run down to the Senate House, will you, and see who is Second Wrangler,” he asked his servant. The servant returned and said, “You, sir.” Someone else, his name today forgotten, had proved better able to master Tripos mathematics.
