George Green (mathematician)

George Green (14 July 1793 – 31 May 1841) was a British mathematical physicist born in Sneinton, Nottinghamshire, now part of the city of Nottingham. Despite receiving little recognition during his lifetime, he is best remembered for his Essay on electricity and magnetism published in 1828. In this essay he introduced an early version of Green's theorem in vector calculus, the notion of potential functions as currently used in physics, and a method of solving differential equations called Green's functions. This paper formed the foundation for the work of later scientists such as William Thomson (later Lord Kelvin), among many others. His work on potentials ran parallel to that of Carl Friedrich Gauss.

As a mathematician, he was almost entirely self-taught, receiving only about one year of formal schooling as a child, between the ages of eight and nine. Green then worked his father's bakery from a young age, and later at the mill his father constructed in 1807, now known as Green's Windmill. Whilst working as a miller, he became a member of Nottingham Subscription Library through which he was able to access contemporary mathematical knowledge.

Green formed a relationship with Jane Smith, the daughter of the mill manager William Smith. Although the couple never married, they had seven children together and she later adopted Green's surname.