Sir George Stokes (1819-1903) was a famous mathematician, born in Ireland, who studied at Pembroke College, Cambridge. He is remembered for his sizeable contribution to mathematical physics, in particular to fluid mechanics (the Navier-Stokes equations) and to vector calculus (Stokes' Theorem).

Stokes, like most mathematicians, was a man of few words, to which the following anecdote testifies. At an important dinner he was sat next to a young research assistant, who said to him "I bet I can make you say more than three words this evening".

His reply was: "you lose".

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