Thursday 28 November 2013

iversity and returned for research purposes. Robert Hooke,[20] Edwin Hubble,[20] and Stephen Hawking[20] all studied in Oxford.
Robert Boyle, a founder of modern chemistry, never formally studied or held a post within the university, but resided within the city in order to be part of the scientific community and was awarded an honorary degree.[134] Notable scientists who spent brief periods at Oxford include Albert Einstein[135] developer of general theory of relativity and the concept of photons; and Erwin Schrödinger who formulated the Schrödinger equation and the Schrödinger's cat thought experiment.
Literature, music, and drama[edit]
The long list of writers associated with Oxford includes John Fowles, Theodor Geisel, Thomas Middleton, Samuel Johnson, Robert Graves, Evelyn Waugh,[136] Lewis Carroll,[137] Aldous Huxley,[138] Oscar Wilde,[139] C. S. Lewis,[140] J. R. R. Tolkien,[141] Graham Greene,[142] V.S.Naipaul, Philip Pullman,[20] Joseph Heller,[143] Vikram Seth,[20] the poets Percy Bysshe Shelley,[144] John Donne,[145] A. E. Housman,[146] W. H. Auden,[147] T. S. Eliot, Wendy Perriam and Philip Larkin,[148] and seven poets laureate: Thomas Warton,[149] Henry James Pye,[150] Robert Southey,[151] Robert Bridges,[152] Cecil Day-Lewis,[153] Sir John Betjeman,[154] and Andrew Motion.[155]
Composers Hubert Parry, George Butterworth, John Taverner, William Walton, James Whitbourn and Andrew Lloyd Webber have all been involved with the university.
Actors Hugh Grant,[156] Kate Beckinsale,[156] Dudley Moore,[157] Michael Palin,[20] and Terry Jones[158] were undergraduates at the University, as were Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck[20] and filmmakers Ken Loach[159] and Richard Curtis.
Religion[edit]
Oxford has also produced at least 12 saints, and 20 Archbishops of Canterbury, the most recent being Rowan Williams, who studied at Wadham College and was later a Canon Professor at Christ Church.[20][160] Religious reformer John Wycliffe was an Oxford scholar, for a time Master of Balliol College. John Colet, Christian humanist, Dean of St Paul's, and friend of Erasmus, studied at Magdalen College. The founder of Methodism, John Wesley, studied at Christ Church and was elected a fellow of Lincoln College.[161] Other religious figures were Mirza Nasir Ahmad, the third Caliph of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, and Shoghi Effendi, one of the appointed leaders of the Baha'i faith.
Economics and philosophy[edit]
Economists Adam Smith, Alfred Marshall, E. F. Schumacher, and Amartya Sen all spent time at Oxford.
Oxford's philosophical tradition started in the medieval era, with Robert Grosseteste[162] and William of Ockham,[162] commonly known for Occam's razor, among those teaching at the university. Thomas Hobbes,[163][164] Jeremy Bentham and the empiricist John Locke received degrees from Oxford. Though the latter's main works were written after leaving Oxford, Locke was heavily influenced by his twelve years at the university.[162]
Philosophy returned in the 20th and 21st century. Figures include Gilbert Ryle,[162] author of the influential The Concept of Mind, who spent his entire philosophical career at the university. Another is Derek Parfit, who specialises in personal identity and related matters. Other commonly read modern philosophers to have studied at the university include A. J. Ayer[162] and Thomas Nagel, known for his essay "What Is it Like to Be a Bat?". John Searle, presenter of the Chinese room thought experiment, studied and began his academic career at the university.[165]

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