Sir George Stokes, 1st Baronet

Sir George Gabriel Stokes, 1st Baronet (/stoʊks/ stohks; 13 August 1819 – 1 February 1903), was an Irish mathematician and physicist. Born in County Sligo, Ireland, Stokes spent his entire career at the University of Cambridge, where he served as Lucasian Professor of Mathematics for 54 years—from 1849 until his death in 1903—the longest tenure held by any Lucasian Professor.

As a physicist, Stokes made seminal contributions to fluid mechanics, including the Navier–Stokes equations; and to optics, with notable works on polarisation and fluorescence. As a mathematician, he popularised Stokes' theorem in vector calculus and contributed to the theory of asymptotic expansions. Stokes, along with Felix Hoppe-Seyler, first demonstrated the oxygen transport function of haemoglobin, and showed colour changes produced by the aeration of haemoglobin solutions.

Stokes represented Cambridge University in the House of Commons from 1887 to 1892, sitting as a Conservative. He also served as President of the Royal Society from 1885 to 1890, and was briefly Master of Pembroke College, Cambridge. Stokes's extensive correspondence and his work as secretary of the Royal Society has led him to be referred to as a gatekeeper of Victorian science, with his contributions surpassing his own published papers.