James Thomson (mathematician)
James Thomson (born November 13, 1789 in Ballynahinch (Down) , County Down , † January 12, 1849 ) was a Northern Irish mathematician.
He was married to Margaret Gardiner (marriage 1817), with whom he had four sons and three daughters, including the physicist William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin , and the engineer James Thomson .
Thomson was a farmer's son and received home schooling and, after his father saw his talent in teaching himself to make sundials, he went to a school in Ballykine, where he became the headmaster's assistant. From 1810 he studied at the University of Glasgow to become a Presbyterian clergyman. During the summer he continued teaching at his school in Ballykine. After graduating in 1812 (MA) he became a teacher again and from 1814 he taught arithmetic, bookkeeping and geography at the Academical Institution in Belfast, where he became professor of mathematics in 1815. From 1832 until his death in 1849 he was a mathematics professor at the University of Glasgow.
He wrote school books on mathematics and geography, which had high editions (his arithmetic textbook was published in 1880 in the 72nd edition in London).
In 1829 he received an honorary doctorate (LLD) in Glasgow.
Fonts
- Arithmetic, Belfast 1819
- Trigonometry, Plane and Spherical, Belfast 1820
- Introduction to Modern Geography, Belfast 1827
- The Phenomena of the Heavens, Belfast 1827
- The Differential and Integral Calculus, 1831, 2nd edition London 1848
- Algebra, 1844
- Euclid, 1834
- Atlas of Modern Geography
Web links
- Entry in the Dictionary of National Biography by Thomas Hamilton
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Thomson, James |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Northern Irish mathematician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 13, 1789 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | at Ballynahinch (Down) , County Down |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 12, 1849 |