William Edward Ayrton

William Edward Ayrton ( born September 14, 1847 in London, † November 8, 1908 same place ) was a British physicist.

Life and work

Ayrton studied in London and then went to India, where he was employed in the Telegraph Administration. From 1873 to 1879 he was professor of physics and telegraphy at the Imperial Engineering College (now Faculty of Engineering Sciences, University of Tokyo) in Tokyo. 1879 Ayrton returned to England and was appointed professor of physics at the City and Guilds of London Institute. In 1881 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society; 1901, the Royal Medal of the Royal Society awarded him.

Ayrton worked together a long time with John Perry and dealt in particular with the construction of measuring instruments, with the improvement of dynamos, with electric railways and other electro- technical fields.

In 1885 he married Hertha Marks Ayrton, who supported him in his work and received in 1906 one of the Medals of the Royal Society.

Works

• Practical Electricity. London 1881, online at archive.org