He had chosen to study mathematics at Cambridge because, in his own words in his 1868 application for the professorship, "From my earliest recollection I have had an irresistible liking for mechanics and the physical laws on which mechanics as a science is based.... my attention drawn to various mechanical phenomena, for the explanation of which I discovered that a knowledge of mathematics was essential."
Odabrao je da studira matematiku na Kembridžu jer, po sopstvenim rečima iz prijave za profesorsko mesto 1868.: "Od mojih prvih sećanja imao sam neodoljivu naklonost prema mehanici i fizičkim zakonima na kojima je mehanika kao nauka zasnovana.... moja pažnja privučena raznim mehaničkim pojavama, za čije je objašnjenje, kako sam otkrio, poznavanje matematike suštinsko."