Arthur Stanley Eddington was born in Kendal, now in Cumbria, where his father was head teacher at a Quaker school. John Dalton had taught there a century earlier.When Eddington was young his father died and the family moved to Weston-super-Mare. After some education at home he went to school, where his abilities in mathematics were recognised and he was awarded a scholarship to study physics at Owens College (now the University of Manchester) at the age of 16.
After graduating with a first-class degree from Manchester, Eddington was awarded another scholarship to study at Cambridge, where he transferred to mathematics. Initially he took up research in thermionic emission of electrons. However, this was not successful, so he soon moved to the Royal Observatory Greenwich, where he was able to follow his interest in astronomy. He had been fascinated by the stars since being loaned a telescope when he was 10 years old.
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