Kerr, John
Kerr, John
Born Dec. 17, 1824, in Ardrossan, Scotland; died Aug. 18, 1907, in Glasgow. British physicist; member of the Royal Society (1890). Graduated from the University of Glasgow (1846) and taught there from 1857 to 1901. He discovered the phenomenon of birefringence in substances placed in an electric field (1875) and in a magnetic field (1876).
WORKS
“A New Relation Between Electricity and Light: Dielectrified Media Birefringent.” Philosophical Magazine, 1875, vol. 50, pp. 337–48, 446–58.“On Rotation of the Plane of Polarization by Reflection From the Pole of a Magnet.” Philosophical Magazine, 1877, vol. 3, pp. 321–43.