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.

Past Wranglers

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.

Related Topics:
John Herschel - George Stokes - Lord Rayleigh - James Clerk Maxwell - J.J. Thomson - Lord Kelvin

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The culture of fierce competition at mathematics exams was typical of Cambridge for a long time, and for this reason Cambridge, rather than Oxford, is associated with most of England's best mathematical and scientific minds (the two universities were the only ones in England for several hundred years). However, it is certainly not true to say that top marks in the Cambridge mathematics exam guaranteed the senior wrangler success in life; the exams were largely a test of speed in applying familiar rules, and some of the most inventive and original students of Mathematics at Cambridge did not come top of their class (Hardy was 4th, Sedgwick 5th and Keynes was 12th).

Related Topics:
Oxford - Hardy - Sedgwick - Keynes

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The first woman to top the maths list, albeit unofficially, was Philippa Fawcett, who took the exams in 1890. At the time, women were not officially ranked, although they were told how they had done compared to the male candidates, so she was ranked "above the senior wrangler".

Related Topics:
Philippa Fawcett - 1890

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The examination was the most important in Britain at the time, and the results were given great publicity. In 1865 Lord Rayleigh was senior wrangler and the Times of 30 January had a leader saying there was no reason to fear that he had gained this distinction through favoritism accorded to the heir to a peerage!

Related Topics:
1865 - 30 January

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In the early 20th century, the order of merit was abolished and lists of students who had completed the mathematics exams were sorted alphabetically in each of the three classes of honours, and were not based on individual marks. The last official senior wrangler was P. J. Daniell who graduated in 1909.

Related Topics:
P. J. Daniell - 1909

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Students who achieve second-class and third-class mathematics degrees are known as Senior Optimes (second-class) and Junior Optimes (third-class). Cambridge did not divide its examination classification in mathematics into 2:1s and 2:2s until 1995 but now there are Senior Optimes Division 1 and Senior Optimes Division 2.

Related Topics:
Optime - Examination classification - 1995

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