Cambridge in 1822, and Connop Thirlwall, afterwards bishop of St. David's, who also returned on giving up the bar in 1827. Whewell was thus one of a group of very able men who were beginning to raise the standard of Cambridge education. In 1818 the Cambridge Philosophical Society was founded, and Whewell was one of the original members. Rose, Hare, and Thirlwall were studying German literature in various departments. Whewell read Kant carefully, and became in some degree a disciple. He learnt German thoroughly. Humboldt complained of having missed him at Potsdam, because orders had been given to admit an English gentleman, and Whewell was taken for a German (Todhunter, i. 411). In later years he translated a novel of Auerbach's and Goethe's ‘Hermann and Dorothea,’ for which he had an enthusiastic admiration. His friends Babbage, Herschel, and Peacock were now introducing the analytical methods of continental mathematicians, still neglected at Cambridge [see under Peacock, George, (1791–1858)]. Whewell supported them (Todhunter, ii. 14, 30), and, when his friends talked of starting a review, suggested that it might be floated at Cambridge by adding some ‘neatly done mathematics’ (ib. p. 21)—an ‘odd expedient,’ as he admits. As the review never started, this mode of increasing circulation was not tested. Meanwhile, as mathematical lecturer at Trinity and moderator (1820 and 1828) he could exercise a more appropriate influence in the cause. He first became an author in the same interest. A text-book upon mechanics, first published in 1819, helped, as Todhunter says (i. 13), to introduce the continental mathematics. It went through many editions, and he followed it up by other books of a similar kind. In 1820 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society, and early in the same year made the acquaintance of George Biddell Airy (afterwards astronomer royal), then an undergraduate at Trinity, and at a later time one of his warmest friends. He made tours during the long vacations. The first attempt with his friend Sheepshanks in 1819 was ended by the wreck of the packet in which they were crossing the Channel, and the loss of all their baggage. In 1820 they visited Switzerland. These tours led to a new subject of study. Letters from Sheepshanks in 1822 show that Whewell was taking an interest in ecclesiastical architecture (Todhunter, i. 31). In 1823 he made a tour with Kenelm Digby to see the churches of Normandy and Picardy. In 1829, 1830, and 1831 he made later tours for similar purposes in Germany, Cornwall, and Normandy. His various observations enabled him to write a book of ‘Architectural Notes,’ giving his theory of Gothic architecture. A tour in Germany in 1825 had a more strictly scientific purpose. He had already published papers upon crystallography in the ‘Transactions’ of the Royal and the Cambridge Philosophical societies, and he announced himself (June 1825) a candidate for the chair of mineralogy about to be vacated by John Stevens Henslow [q. v.] He visited Germany to obtain instruction in the science from Professor Mohs. Disputes as to the right of election delayed the appointment to the Cambridge professorship till March 1828, when Whewell was elected. He immediately published an essay upon ‘Mineralogical Classification.’ In 1827 he had been elected a fellow of the Geological Society. In 1826, and again in 1828, he made some laborious experiments with Airy at the bottom of Dolcoath mine, near Camborne in Cornwall, with a view to determining the density of the earth. Accidents to the instruments employed were on both occasions fatal to the success of the experiments.
Whewell had been ordained priest on Trinity Sunday 1825 (the date of his ordination as deacon seems to be unknown; Stair Douglas, p. 101; Todhunter, i. 32). His scientific occupations had not diminished his interest in theology, upon which he communicated with his friends H. J. Rose and Julius Hare. In September 1830 he was appointed to write one of the Bridgewater ‘Treatises.’ This, which appeared in 1833, was the first and perhaps the most popular of the series. It was also, as Todhunter thinks, the book which first made Whewell known to general readers. Its subject is astronomy considered with reference to natural theology. The book anticipates the point which he treated at length in the ‘Plurality of Worlds.’ It was criticised with some severity by Brewster in the ‘Edinburgh Review’ of January 1834.
Whewell in 1832 resigned the chair of mineralogy, in which he was succeeded by William Hallowes Miller [q. v.] He presented his collections to the university, with a sum of 100l. towards the provision of a suitable museum. Whewell had already made the acquaintance of many men of scientific eminence on the continent as well as in England. James David Forbes [q. v.], who visited Cambridge in May 1831, became one of his warmest friends. The foundation of the British Association in 1831 widened his circle of acquaintance. He was prevented by college business from attending
