In 1835, Stokes moved to England after his father died and attended Bristol College for two years. He then jumped to Cambridge where he entered Pembroke College. By 1841, Stokes graduated with very high honors. Pembroke quickly gave him a fellowship, and his mentor at Pembroke, William Hopkins, suggested that he do research in hydrodynamics. Stokes established the science of hydrodynamics by developing his law of viscosity. From 1842 to 1843, Stokes published papers on the motion of incompressible fluids and on the friction of fluids in motion.

In 1849, Stokes became a Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge. Two years later, Stokes was elected to the Royal Society and held the position of secretary for 30 years. Subsequently, he was elected president of the Royal Society. He became the first person to hold these three positions since Sir Issac Newton.

Stokes research included the wave theory of light, the phenomenon of fluorescence, and the explanation of the Fraunhofer lines in the solar spectrum. He also founded the science of geodesy and advanced the study of mathematical physics in England.