Wrangler

At the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, a wrangler is a student who has completed the third year (called Part II) of the Mathematical Tripos with first-class honours.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The highest-scoring student is named the "senior wrangler"; the second highest-scoring student is the "second wrangler"; the third highest is the "third wrangler", and so on.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Senior wranglers have included some of Britain's most brilliant scientists, including John Herschel, George Stokes and Lord Rayleigh. Interestingly, there are some equally if not more famous names associated with the rank of second wrangler (such as James Clerk Maxwell, J.J. Thomson and Lord Kelvin). Legend has it that Kelvin was so confident that he had come top of the exam that he asked his servant to run to the Senate House and check who the second wrangler was. The servant returned and informed him, "You, sir!". It is also suggested that the final exam required the students to write a proof of a theorem (which Kelvin himself had provided the proof for, earlier in the course); unfortunately, because he had created it, it hadn't occurred to him to learn it, and he spent a lot of time working it out from scratch - while the student who achieved Senior Wrangler put it down to having commited the proof to memory.

University of Cambridge: The University of Cambridge is the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world, with one of the most selective sets of entry requirements in the United Kingdom....

Mathematical Tripos: REDIRECT Cambridge Mathematical Tripos...

John Herschel: Sir John Frederick William Herschel (7 March, 1792 – 11 May, 1871) was an English mathematician and astronomer. He was the son of astronomer William Herschel....

Wrangler related Images and Photos (experimental)

Wrangler under a Crescent Moon