Charles Tomlinson (scientist)

Charles Tomlinson (27 November 1808 in London – 15 February 1897) was a British scientist, member of the Royal Society.

He studied science under George Birkbeck, the founder of the London Mechanics' Institute. For a while, he had a school with his brother Lewis, at Salisbury. Becoming known for original investigation, he was called to London, where he was appointed lecturer on experimental science at King's College School. In 1872 he was elected to the Royal Society, and in 1874 he took a leading part in founding the Physical Society. As a scientist Tomlinson made valuable contributions to the knowledge of the surface tension of liquids. His last years were devoted to literature, and he held the Dante lectureship at University College 1878-1880.

He authored over 50 books and 100 published papers and notes, among which were:

• Cyclopaedia of Useful Arts and Manufactures
• The Dew-drop and the Mist, a popular work (London, 1860)
• The magnet : familiarly described; and illustrated by a box of magnetic toys (1861)
• The Sonnet, Its Origin, Structure, and Place in Poetry (1874)
• a translation of Dante Aligheri's Inferno (1877)
• The Literary History of the Divine Comedy (1879)
• Dante, Beatrice, and the Divine Comedy (1894)
• a volume of original Sonnets (1881)