Senior Wrangler


The Senior Wrangler is the top mathematics undergraduate at Cambridge University in England, a position which has been described as "the greatest intellectual achievement attainable in Britain."
Specifically, it is the person who achieves the highest overall mark among the Wranglers – the students at Cambridge who gain first-class degrees in mathematics. The Cambridge undergraduate mathematics course, or Mathematical Tripos, is famously difficult.
Many Senior Wranglers have become world-leading figures in mathematics, physics, and other fields. They include George Airy, John Herschel, Arthur Cayley, James Inman, George Stokes, Isaac Todhunter, Morris Pell, Lord Rayleigh, Arthur Eddington, J. E. Littlewood, Jayant Narlikar, Frank Ramsey, Donald Coxeter, Jacob Bronowski, Lee Hsien Loong, Kevin Buzzard, Christopher Budd, Ben Green, and John Polkinghorne.
Senior Wranglers were once fêted with torchlit processions and took pride of place in the University's graduation ceremony. Years in Cambridge were often remembered by who had been Senior Wrangler that year.
The annual ceremony in which the Senior Wrangler becomes known was first held in the 18th century. Standing on the balcony of the University's Senate House, the examiner reads out the class results for mathematics, and printed copies of the results are then thrown to the audience below. The examiner no longer announces the students' exact rankings, but they still identify the Senior Wrangler, nowadays by tipping their academic hat when reading out the person's name.

Others who finished in the top 12

The difficulty of the examinations is illustrated by the identities of some of those who have performed well, but less well than the Senior Wrangler.
Those who have achieved second place, known as Second Wranglers, include Alfred Marshall, James Clerk Maxwell, J. J. Thomson, Lord Kelvin, William Clifford, and William Whewell.
Those who have finished between third and 12th include Karl Pearson and William Henry Bragg, George Green and G. H. Hardy, Adam Sedgwick, John Venn, Bertrand Russell and Nevil Maskelyne, Thomas Malthus, and John Maynard Keynes and William Henry Fox Talbot.

History

Between 1748 and 1909, the University publicly announced the ranking, which was then reported in newspapers such as The Times. The examination was considered to be by far the most important in Britain and the Empire. The prestige of being a high Wrangler was great; the respect accorded to the Senior Wrangler was immense. Andrew Warwick, author of Masters of Theory, describes the term 'Senior Wrangler' as "synonymous with academic supremacy".
Since 1910, successful students in the examinations have been told their rankings privately, and not all Senior Wranglers have become publicly known as such. In recent years, the custom of discretion regarding ranking has progressively vanished, and all Senior Wranglers since 2010 have announced their identity publicly.
The youngest person to be Senior Wrangler is probably Arran Fernandez, who came top in 2013, aged 18 years and 0 months. The previous youngest was probably James Wilkinson in 1939, aged 19 years and 9 months. The youngest up to 1909 were Alfred Flux in 1887, aged 20 years and 2 months and Peter Tait in 1852, aged 20 years and 8 months.
Two individuals have placed first without becoming known as Senior Wrangler. One was the student Philippa Fawcett in 1890. At that time, although the University allowed women to take the examinations, it did not allow them to be members of the University, nor to receive degrees. Therefore they could not be known as 'Wranglers', and were merely told how they had performed compared to the male candidates, for example, "equal to the Third Wrangler", or "between the Seventh and Eighth Wranglers". Having gained the highest mark, Fawcett was declared to have finished "above the Senior Wrangler".
The other was the mathematics professor George Pólya. As he had contributed to reforming the Tripos with the aim that an excellent performance would be less dependent on solving hard problems and more so on showing a broad mathematical understanding and knowledge, G.H. Hardy asked Pólya to sit the examinations himself, unofficially, during his stay in England in 1924–5. Pólya did so, and to Hardy's surprise, received the highest mark, an achievement which, had he been a student, would have made him the Senior Wrangler.

Derived uses of the term

Senior Wrangler's Walk is a path in Cambridge, the walk to and along which was considered to be sufficient constitutional exercise for a student aspiring to become the Senior Wrangler. The route was shorter than other walks, such as Wranglers' Walk and the Grantchester Grind, undertaken by undergraduates whose aspirations were lower.
Senior Wrangler sauce is a Cambridge term for brandy butter, a type of hard sauce made from brandy, butter, and sugar, traditionally served in Britain with Christmas pudding and warm mince pies.
Senior Wrangler is also the name of a solitaire card game, alternatively known as Mathematics and Double Calculation, played with two decks of cards and involving elementary modular arithmetic.

Literary references

Fictional Senior Wranglers appearing in novels include Roger Hamley, a character in Elizabeth Gaskell's Wives and Daughters, and Tom Jericho, the cryptanalyst in Robert Harris's novel Enigma, who is described as having been Senior Wrangler in 1938.
In George Bernard Shaw's play Mrs. Warren's Profession, the title character's daughter Vivie is praised for "tieing with the third wrangler," and she comments that "the mathematical tripos" means "grind, grind, grind for six to eight hours a day at mathematics, and nothing but mathematics."
In Ford Madox Ford's Parade's End, the character Christopher Tietjens is described as having settled deliberately for only being Second Wrangler, in order to avoid the weight of expectation that the title would create.
In his Discworld series of novels, Terry Pratchett has a character called the Senior Wrangler, a faculty member at the Unseen University, whose first name is Horace.
The compiler of crosswords for The Leader in the 1930s used 'Senior Wrangler' as a pseudonym.

Coaches

The two most successful 19th-century coaches of Senior Wranglers were William Hopkins and Edward Routh. Hopkins, the 'Senior Wrangler Maker', who himself was the 7th Wrangler, coached 17 Senior Wranglers. Routh, who had himself been the Senior Wrangler, coached 27. Another, described by his student J.E. Littlewood as "the last of the great coaches", was another Senior Wrangler, Robert Alfred Herman.

Senior Wranglers and runners up, 1748–1909

During 1748–1909, the top two colleges in terms of number of Senior Wranglers were Trinity and St John's with 56 and 54 respectively. Gonville and Caius was third with 13.
, Senior Wrangler, 1763.
, Senior Wrangler, 1806.
, Senior Wrangler, 1813.
, Senior Wrangler, 1823.
, Senior Wrangler, 1841.
, Senior Wrangler, 1842.
, Senior Wrangler, 1843.
, Senior Wrangler, 1848.
, who at 20 years 8 months in 1852 was younger than all previous Senior Wranglers.
, Senior Wrangler in 1854 and coach to many subsequent Senior Wranglers.
, Senior Wrangler, 1865.
, Senior Wrangler, 1863.
, Senior Wrangler, 1877. The postcard portrait is a sign of the fame associated with the position of Senior Wrangler.
, ranked "above the Senior Wrangler" in 1890.
, Senior Wrangler, 1895.
, Senior Wrangler, 1904
, Senior Wrangler in the 1940s
, Senior Wrangler, 1948
, Senior Wrangler, 1959
, Senior Wrangler, 1973
, Senior Wrangler, 1990
, Senior Wrangler, 1998
YearSenior WranglerCollegeProxime AccessitCollege
1748Gonville and CaiusJohn CranwellSidney Sussex
1749Corpus ChristiFrancis CoventryMagdalene
1750St John'sJohn GoochGonville and Caius
1751Christ'sWilliam CardalePembroke
1752MagdaleneClare
1753TrinityWilliam PrestonTrinity
1754St John'sSamuel HallifaxJesus
1755JesusJohn HatsellQueens'
1756Corpus ChristiWilliam BearcroftPeterhouse
1757MagdalenePeterhouse
1758PeterhouseSidney Sussex
1759St John'sTrinity
1760ClareAnthony HamiltonCorpus Christi
1761PeterhouseTimothy LowtenSt John's
1762Christ'sJeremiah PembertonPembroke
1763Christ'sGonville and Caius
1764Corpus ChristiJohn Fairfax FrancklinEmmanuel
1765Gonville and CaiusJohn Clement IvesGonville and Caius
1766St John'sJohn LawChrist's
1767PembrokeGeorge DutensQueens'
1768St John'sGeorge FieldingTrinity
1769Christ'sWilliam BurslemSt John's
1770St John'sSt John's
1771St John'sGonville and Caius
1772PembrokeClare
1773Gonville and CaiusSt John's
1774Queens'Peterhouse
1775Gonville and CaiusSt John's
1776EmmanuelJesus
1777TrinityTrinity
1778MagdaleneEmmanuel
1779TrinitySt John's
1780PembrokeChrist's
1781Pembroke & Trinity & Queens'
1782St John'sTrinity
1783Sidney SussexMagdalene
1784Queens'Sidney Sussex
1785TrinityClare
1786TrinityJesus
1787St John'sSt John's
1788Gonville and CaiusSt John's
1789St John'sTrinity
1790PeterhouseFletcher RaincockPembroke
1791TrinityGonville and Caius
1792St John'sTrinity
1793Queens'Trinity
1794Sidney SussexTrinity
1795Gonville and CaiusGonville and Caius
1796St John'sTrinity
1797TrinityTrinity
1798TrinityRobert MartinTrinity
1799St John'sTrinity
1800St John'sCorpus Christi
1801St John'sPembroke
1802Queens'Christ's
1803St John'sSt John's
1804Christ'sTrinity
1805St Catharine'sTrinity
1806TrinitySt John's
1807St John'sTrinity
1808Gonville and CaiusSt John's
1809Gonville and CaiusGonville and Caius
1810TrinityTrinity
1811TrinityCaius
1812St John'sTrinity
1813St John'sTrinity
1814St John'sSt John's
1815TrinityJesus
1816Gonville and CaiusTrinity
1817St John'sPembroke
1818TrinitySt John's
1819Queens'St John's
1820TrinitySt John's
1821TrinitySt John's
1822Gonville and CaiusCorpus Christi
1823TrinitySt John's
1824St John'sCorpus Christi
1825TrinityClare
1826TrinitySt John's
1827PeterhouseTrinity
1828TrinitySt John's
1829St Catharine'sTrinity
1830St John'sSidney Sussex
1831St John'sSt John's
1832TrinitySt John's
1833Gonville and CaiusPembroke
1834Queens'Trinity
1835St John'sTrinity
1836TrinitySt John's
1837St John'sSt John's
1838St John'sCorpus Christi
1839St John'sSt John's
1840TrinityCaius
1841PembrokeTrinity
1842TrinitySt John's
1843St John'sSt John's
1844St John'sGonville and Caius
1845St John's Peterhouse
1846TrinityPembroke
1847St John'sTrinity
1848St John'sGonville and Caius
1849St John'sGonville and Caius
1850Corpus ChristiTrinity
1851Gonville and CaiusSt John's
1852PeterhousePeterhouse
1853St John'sEmmanuel
1854PeterhousePeterhouse & Trinity
1855St John'sSt John's
1856St John'sTrinity
1857Queens'Pembroke
1858Queens'Peterhouse
1859St John's & Trinity & Gonville and Caius
1860TrinitySt John's
1861TrinityMagdalene
1862TrinitySt John's
1863Trinity HallTrinity
1864TrinityTrinity
1865TrinitySt John's
1866PeterhouseTrinity
1867TrinityTrinity
1868St John'sTrinity
1869TrinitySt John's
1870St John'sSt John's
1871TrinityTrinity
1872St John'sTrinity
1873TrinityTrinity
1874Gonville and CaiusTrinity
1875Trinity & George ChrystalPembroke & Peterhouse
1876St John'sWilliam Loudon MollisonClare
1877St John'sGonville and Caius
1878Christ'sTrinity
1879PeterhouseQueens'
1880St John'sTrinity
1881TrinityTrinity
1882TrinitySt John's
1882JesusTrinity
1883St John'sTrinity
1884TrinityTrinity
1885King'sSt John's
1886TrinitySt John's
1887, Sir Alfred William Flux, John Henry Michell & John Cyril IlesSt John's, St John's, Trinity & TrinityEmmanuel
1888St John'sTrinity
1889Trinity & Percy Cory GaulTrinity & Trinity
1890Geoffrey Thomas Bennett;
Philippa Fawcett placed "Above the Senior Wrangler"		St John's
Trinity
1891Corpus Christi & Christ's & Sidney Sussex
1892TrinityChrist's
1893Christ's & King's & Trinity
1894 & William Fellows SedgwickTrinity & TrinityClare
1895St John's & E. T. WhittakerPeterhouse & Trinity
1896Queens', & Trinity, Trinity & Trinity
1897TrinityTrinity
1898St John's & James Hopwood JeansGonville and Caius & Trinity
1899 & R. P. ParanjpyePembroke & St John'sTrinity
1900TrinityTrinity Hall
1901Gonville and CaiusEmmanuel
1902St John'sSt John's
1903 & Philip Edward MarrackTrinity & Trinity, Ernest Gold, George Frederic Sowden Hills and Sidney Hill PhillipsTrinity, St John's, Trinity and St John's
1904TrinityTrinity
1905 & James MercerTrinity & TrinityTrinity Hall
1906 & Trinity & TrinityClare
1907TrinityTrinity
1908 & A. W. IbbotsonTrinity & PembrokeChrist's
1909TrinityE. H. NevilleTrinity

Senior Wranglers since 1910

Senior Wranglers since 1910 also include: