Robert Edward Anderson

“ Like Gregory, Keill was an enthusiastic student of Newton's ‘Principia,’ and began expounding the Newtonian principles ‘by proper experiments in his private chamber at the college.’ He was appointed lecturer in experimental philosophy at Hart Hall, and, as soon as suitable apparatus could be contrived, he opened the first course of lectures on the new philosophy which had been delivered in Oxford. Desaguliers, who in 1710 succeeded him at Hart Hall, calls him the ‘first who taught natural philosophy by experiments in a mathematical manner ... ”

“ HAMILTON, DAVID (1768–1843) , architect, born in Glasgow 11 May 1768, was during the early part of the century the designer of most of the principal buildings in the west of Scotland. In Glasgow he was architect of the theatre (1804) , the Western Clubhouse, several of the leading banks and churches built during that period, and the Royal Exchange (1837–40) . Hamilton's greatest work was the palace built for the Duke of Hamilton in Lanarkshire, remarkable no less for its extent than for its dignity and graceful proportion, its façade, and its magnificent portico. ”

“ JOHNSON, HUMPHRY (fl. 1713) , calligrapher and mathematician, lived in Old Bedlam Court, Bishopsgate, London, where he taught writing and arithmetic; and afterwards removed to Hornsey, where he kept a boarding-school till his death. In his book on arithmetic he says that he ‘received his apprenticeship with that celebrated penman, Mr. George Shelley, now writing-master in Christ's Church Hospital.’ A well-engraved portrait of Johnson, in a wig, is prefixed to his ‘Arithmetic.’
Johnson's ‘New Treatise of Practical Arithmetic’ was published in London, 1710, and a second edition in 1719. ”

“ In 1844, before the Royal Irish Academy, of which he was still president, he formally defined the term 'quaternions,' by which the new calculus was to be known; but not till 1848 can the method be considered as systematically established, when he began, in Trinity College, Dublin, the 'Lectures on Quaternions,' which were published in 1853. Nearly the whole of this bulky octavo, occupying 808 pages, besides an introduction of 64 pages, can be understood only by advanced mathematicians. ”

“ After attending school at Barnet and then in Cripplegate, London, he was entered as commoner at University College, Oxford, in 1634, and remained there five years without taking a degree. He entered the Middle Temple, and on the commencement of the civil war joined Charles I at York. Soon afterwards he ‘went to London to recruit himself,’ and being taken prisoner by the parliamentarians, was allowed to pass out of the country on his giving good security not to join the king's army again. Henshaw sailed to Holland, and afterwards entered the French army, in which he became major. ”

“ BARROW, JOHN (fl. 1756) , geographical compiler, died at the end of last century. His first work was a geographical dictionary, which was published in London anonymously, as was also (in 1756) the first edition of his principal work, ‘A Chronological Abridgment or History of the Discoveries made by Europeans in the different parts of the world.’ The second edition of the latter compilation appeared in 1765, and was so successful that in the year following a French translation, by Targe, was published at Paris, in twelve volumes. ”

“ Receiving a good education, Jones showed a strong bias towards mathematics. Going to London he entered a merchant's counting-house, and in his service visited the West Indies. He afterwards taught mathematics on board a man-of-war and thus obtained the friendship of Lord Anson. In 1702 he was present at the capture of Vigo. On his return to London he established himself as a teacher of mathematics. ”

“ He soon had to rent a larger room on account of the number of pupils, and, after qualifying himself by diligent study and attending evening classes in Newcastle, he in 1760 opened a mathematical school there, professing all branches up to conic sections and the 'doctrine of fluxions,' and also taught mathematics at the 'Head School' of the town. A gentleman named Shafto employed Hutton in the evenings as tutor to his family, and lent him some advanced mathematical works. ”

“ In the summer of 1730 he made his second great success by the invention of the reflecting quadrant, a simple but invaluable improvement of Hooke's instrument. Hooke's octant lacked precisely the quality which makes Hadley's instrument so indispensable at sea, and though Sir Isaac Newton undoubtedly wrote a description to Halley of what was wanting, it is scarcely possible to doubt that Hadley's discovery was reached independently. On 13 May 1731 he read a paper to the Royal Society entitled 'Description of a new Instrument for taking Angles, by John Hadley, Vice-Pres. ”

“ In 1802 Horner studied chemistry at the university of Edinburgh under Thomas Charles Hope [q. v.] , having already shown a strong bias towards scientific pursuits, and about the same time began to collect mineralogical specimens. Becoming partner in his father's linen factory, he went to London in 1804, and settled there in his twenty-first year, after marrying a Miss Lloyd. From his brother's influence and his own acquirements as mineralogist and geologist Horner was soon well known among scientific and literary men of the day. ”

“ Ivory returned to Dundee in 1786, and for three years taught in the principal school, introducing the study of algebra, and raising the standard of general instruction. He afterwards joined in starting a flax-spinning mill at Douglastown, on the Carbet, near Forfar, and acted as managing partner. Ivory devoted all his leisure to mathematical work, especially to analysis as it was then taught on the continent, and Henry Brougham, at the time a young advocate, cultivated his acquaintance, and visited him at Brigton, near the flax-factory, when on his way to the Aberdeen circuit. ”

“ HELLINS, JOHN (d. 1827) , mathematician and astronomer, was son of a labourer at Ashreyney, near Chumleigh, Devonshire, and after being bound as a parish apprentice to a cooper at Chumleigh, worked at that trade till he was about twenty years of age. Having meanwhile taught himself elementary mathematics, he became master of a small school at Bishop's Tawton, and made the acquaintance of Malachy Hitchins [q. v.] ”

“ After studying at Harrow, where he was accidentally lamed for life, he was entered both at Oxford and Cambridge universities, and in 1799 began his public life by becoming secretary to Lord Elgin when the latter was appointed ambassador at Constantinople. The earl frequently entrusted him with business of importance, and in 1801 sent him on a diplomatic mission to Egypt on the occasion of the French evacuation after the battle of Alexandria. Hamilton discovered that the French, contrary to treaty, had stealthily shipped the famous trilingual stone of Rosetta. ”

“ In 1719-20 Hadley obtained his first great success by the improvement he effected in the reflecting telescope, which had been left imperfect by both Newton and Gregory, and thus produced the first instrument of that kind which had sufficient size and accuracy to be of service to astronomers. ”

“ To Shafto Hutton dedicated his first book, 'The Schoolmaster's Guide,' 1764. At the same date Hutton made his first contribution to the 'Ladies' Diary,' of which he was editor from 1773 to 1818. Hutton's reputation as a mathematical teacher grew rapidly; among his pupils were John Scott, afterwards Lord-chancellor Eldon, and Elizabeth Surkes, subsequently the lord chancellor's first wife. Hutton also worked as a surveyor, and was in 1770 employed by the mayor and corporation of Newcastle to draw up an accurate map of the city and its suburbs. ”

“ HOLTZAPFFEL, CHARLES (1806–1847) , mechanician, was the son of a German who in 1787 settled in London as a worker in tools and lathes. In addition to careful training in the workshop, Holtzapffel received a good English education, and by assiduous study and practice became a skilled mechanician. In 1838 he published his ‘New System of Scales of Equal Parts applicable to various purposes of Engineering, Architecture and General Sciences,’ followed by ‘List of Scales of Equal Parts’ suitable to his new method. ”

“ HULLS or HULL, JONATHAN (fl. 1737) , inventor, was born at Campden, Gloucestershire, in 1699. He was the first who attempted practically to employ steam in propelling a vessel in water. His experiments were made on the Avon at Evesham in 1737, the main idea being to have a Newcomen engine—the only sort then known—on a tow-boat in front of the vessel which it was intended to propel, and connected with it by a tow-rope. ”

“ Having acquired a taste for reading and the elements of mathematics, he opened a school near Carlisle, and, improving himself by study, attracted the attention of Bishop Law, who appointed him master of the Carlisle grammar school, and encouraged him to read for holy orders. ”

“ BAINES, JOHN (1787–1838) , mathematician, was born at Westfield farmhouse in the parish of Horbury, Yorkshire, in 1787. From his boyhood he gave proofs of a strong mathematical bias, and in his latter years was a well-known correspondent of the 'Ladies' Diary,' the 'Gentleman's Diary,' the 'York Miscellany,' and other similar periodicals, which in those days were noted for their geometrical and algebraic problems. He died at Thornhill, near Wakefield, Yorkshire, on 1 May 1838, where for nine years he had been master of the grammar school. ”

“ Harrild's factories in London were visited by printers and compositors from all parts of England, and he came to be considered one of the heads of the trade, the more so that his character as an energetic and philanthropic citizen gained him much esteem. ”

“ KELLY, PATRICK (1756–1842) , mathematician and astronomer, born in 1756, was for many years master of a successful private school, called the ‘Mercantile School,’ in Finsbury Square, London. He was appointed mathematical examiner at the Trinity House, and in 1813 had the degree of LL.D. conferred upon him by the university of Glasgow. Kelly was acquainted with Dr. Maskelyne, Sir John Herschel, Dr. Hutton, and other men of science, and was occasionally consulted by committees of the House of Commons as an authority on questions of coinage and currency. He died at Brighton, 5 April 1842. ”

“ When Robert Stephenson retired from work as railway engineer, Harrison became engineer-in-chief of the York, Newcastle, and Berwick line, and the success ultimately reached was largely due to his energy and powers of organisation. ”

“ HORNBLOWER, JONATHAN (1717–1780) , engineer, belonged to a family which for two generations had shown much inventive genius. His father, Joseph Hornblower (1692?–1761) , born at Broseley, Shropshire, made the acquaintance of Newcomen when the latter was building a machine at Wolverhampton in 1712, and went to Cornwall in 1725 to erect a Newcomen engine at Wheal Rose, near Truro; he afterwards erected similar engines at Wheal Bury and Polgooth, and in 1748 settled at Salem, Chacewater, and died at Bristol in 1761. ”

“ After showing how the earth's diurnal rotation must be considered in explaining the trade winds, Hadley clearly sets forth first, the motion of the lower atmosphere from north and south towards the equator, with the causes of this motion ”

“ As secretary of the Cornwall Polytechnic, Hunt had frequently urged the value of technical instruction for all engaged in mining, and in 1859, at a meeting called by him, the 'Miners' Association of Cornwall and Devon' was instituted. It still does good work in scientific training for the local industries. In 1859 Hunt was chosen president of the Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society. ”

“ Horner's business duties recalled him to Edinburgh in 1817, where he settled, after accompanying his brother Francis to Italy, and became prominent as a whig politician and educational reformer. In 1821 he founded the School of Arts there for the instruction of mechanics, and thus, according to Lord Cockburn, was ‘indirectly the founder of all such institutions.’ From 1821 to 1826 a series of annual political meetings, ‘by far the most effective of all the popular movements in Scotland at that time’ (Cockburn) , were organised chiefly by Horner. ”

“ Newton the first inventor, and are of opinion that Mr. Keill, in asserting the same, has been noways injurious to Mr. Leibnitz.’ In 1713 Keill published a reply in French to a defence of Leibnitz, which had appeared in the ‘Journal Littéraire de la Haye,’ and after the death of Leibnitz, 14 Nov. 1716, he repeatedly wrote in the same sense against Bernouilli and other champions of Leibnitz. In pursuing the controversy with Bernouilli, Keill sought to prove Bernouilli's plagiarism in a solution of the inverse problem of centripetal forces. ”

“ His principal book, the 'Geology of the Provinces of Canterbury and Westland,' was published in 1879 at Auckland. In 1866 he founded the Canterbury Museum, and, as a director, took an active interest in its conduct and success till his death. He also had a share in the success of the university of New Zealand, in which he was professor of geology and member of the senate. As a man of science Haast has frequently been quoted as a special authority on glaciation. ”

“ His life was mainly spent as a teacher of mathematics and ‘geology’ to the junior university students, and he wrote two books for the use of his pupils. The first, entitled ‘Globe Notes,’ Oxford, 1678, reached a second edition in 1684. It contains many of the simple propositions in astronomy still occurring in some elementary text-books, with definitions of such terms as colure, solstice, equinoxial. ”

“ Waller, a friend who lived at Sharon close by, and when the darkness had set in found the house besieged by a crowd of 'armed banditti' who were clamorous for his death. Mrs. Waller was mortally wounded by a shot fired through the window, and, terrified apparently by the threats of fire and death, Dr. Waller's servants actually thrust forth the unfortunate Hamilton, and he was instantly murdered at the doorstep, where his body lay till morning. ”