William Grylls Adams

William Grylls Adams (18 February 1836 in Laneast, Cornwall – 10 April 1915) was professor of Natural Philosophy at King's College, London. He was active in research on subjects ranging from light, magnetism, and astronomy to electrical power generation and transmission. His research in optics yielded the discovery that certain materials, notably selenium, produce an electric current when exposed to light. Adams also actively participated in many academic societies and held major positions within the societies.

Family William Grylls Adams was the youngest son of the seven children, four sons and three daughters, of Thomas Adams and Tabitha Knill Grylls. He subsequently held positions at several other institutions, including vice-principal of Peterborough Training College in 1859 and mathematics master at Marlborough College in 1860. He undertook a teaching post at Highgate School in 1864.

King's College Adams was a pioneer in the development of science education, in particular manufacturing and engineering. Adams, however, had a wide area of interest, chief among these was light and magnetism. Light was the focus of Adams' research, which began in 1871, in which he studied the effects of polarization. This first demonstrated that electricity could be produced from light without moving parts and led to the modern solar cell. The two also found that "the ultra-red or the ultra-violet rays have little or no effect; also that the intensity of the action depends on the illuminating power of the light, being directly as the square root of that illuminating power."

Although his focus was light, magnetism was also heavy in his research. In this area, his focus was the resistance change in materials due to magnetism.

The field of astronomy also drew Adams' attention and eventually lead him to Italy to study eclipses. He was president of the Institution of Electrical Engineers and of the mathematical and physical section of the British Association. Adams was also a frequent attendee to the lectures of John Tyndall at the Royal Institution.

Works Solar Heat: A Substitute Fuel for Tropical Countries, Bombay, 1878; Chadwyck-Healey Ltd., 2001 The action of light on selenium, 1875 On the action of light on tellurium and selenium, 1876 Simultaneous magnetic disturbances Alternate current machines Testing of dynamo machines