At the age of forty he entered Gonville and Caius College in Cambridge, took his degree with high honours in 1837, and then resumed his research. Green's Mill has been restored to fully working order, and there is a small science museum for children at its base. A civic service of thanksgiving was held in St. Stephen's Church, Sneinton on 13th July 1993, at which the following address was given.
Mathematical talent has a way of asserting itself even in circumstances which are unfavourable.
The life of George Green is a striking example of this phenomenon. Anyone with any pretensions to being a mathematician is well aware of the importance of Green's functions and many of us have made a living out of their exploitation. Green's theorem, which relates volume effects to surface effects, is a beautiful result, fundamental to gravitational and electromagnetic theories. This astonishing fertility came from someone who had fifteen months formal schooling and whose adolescent years were spent working in the bakery and the mill. It is a most astounding story of genius and achievement under difficulty.