John Hopkinson was a reputed electrical engineer and physicist of Britain, who invented the 3-wire system for distributing electrical power. A knowledge of the early life of John Hopkinson is useful for understanding how he became a famous personality. Alice Dewhurst, the mother of John Hopkinson was a lady from Skipton. His father was a mechanical engineer and was also named John Hopkinson. Hopkinson had 4 siblings and was the eldest of them. He was born in Manchester in 1849 and received his education in Queenwood School. In 1865 he went to Owens College, which later became the University of Manchester.
He was greatly talented mathematician and was thus awarded a scholarship which allowed him to pursue higher education in the same subject at Trinity College in Cambridge. In 1867 he was coached at Cambridge by Routh. He completed his graduation in mathematics in 1871 after topping his class. Next he received a science degree from the University of London later joined his father's engineering company in Manchester.
Career of John Hopkinson
In the year 1872, John Hopkinson became the engineering manager of a glass manufacturing company, named Chance Brothers and Company, which was based in Birmingham. There he studied and learned the best manner of shining lights from
any lighthouse. He suggested that flashing groups of lights should be used for better results.
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In 1878 he set up his personal electrical engineering company. Along with his brother, Edward Hopkinson, he formed an application of the theory of electricity and magnetism in order to develop electric motors. He employed all his mathematical knowledge and expertise to bring out a general theory of alternating currents. He also applied the same theory to operate alternating current generators.
In 1890, Hopkinson was appointed as the professor of electrical engineering at London's famous King's College. During the same time he also became director of the Siemens Laboratory. In that year itself he won a Royal Society medal for his monumental and notable work on iron's magnetic properties.
He achieved a lot of fame for his skilled knowledge regarding electricity and was appointed as a consultant for numerous projects. After 1896, Hopkinson was the adviser on electric traction for various corporations in Liverpool, Leeds and St Helens.
The achievements of John Hopkinson earned him a lot of respect. He had been a member of the Royal Society as well as Institution of Civil Engineers. He became the Institution of Electrical Engineers' President twice. John Hopkinson unfortunately died due to a mountaineering accident, at the zenith of his career.
John Hopkinson was among the famous people from Manchester, who had been honored for his valuable contributions to the fields of mathematics and engineering
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