Alexander Wilson (astronomer)

{{Infobox scientist

| name = Alexander Wilson
FRSE

| image = Alexander Wilson.jpg

| image_size = 220

| caption =

| birth_date = {{Birth year|1714}}

| birth_place = St Andrews, Scotland

| death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|1786|10|16|1714}}

| death_place = Edinburgh, Scotland

| residence =

| citizenship =

| nationality = Scottish

| field = Astronomy
Mathematics
Meteorology
Type-making

| work_institutions = University of Glasgow

| alma_mater = University of St Andrews

| doctoral_advisor =

| doctoral_students =

| known_for = Wilson effect
Wilson Greek

| author_abbrev_bot =

| author_abbrev_zoo =

| influences =

| influenced =

| prizes =

| religion =

| footnotes = Member of the Glasgow Literary Society
Member of the Edinburgh Philosophical Society
Founder Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (1783)

| signature =

}}

Alexander Wilson {{Post-nominals|post-noms=FRSE}} (1714{{spaced ndash}}16 October 1786) was a Scottish surgeon, type-founder, astronomer, mathematician and meteorologist. He was the first scientist to use kites in meteorological investigations.{{cite book

|last1=Waterston

|first1=Charles D

|last2=Macmillan Shearer

|first2=A

|title=Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002: Biographical Index

|url=http://www.rse.org.uk/fellowship/fells_indexp2.pdf

|access-date=22 March 2011

|volume=II

|date=July 2006

|publisher=The Royal Society of Edinburgh

|location=Edinburgh

|isbn=978-0-902198-84-5

|url-status=dead

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061004113303/http://www.rse.org.uk/fellowship/fells_indexp2.pdf

|archive-date=4 October 2006

}}

He was the first Regius Professor of Practical Astronomy at the University of Glasgow.

Early life

Wilson was born in St Andrews, Fife, the son of Clara Fairfoul and Patrick Wilson, the town clerk of St Andrews. He was educated at the University of St Andrews, graduating in 1733 with an MA.{{Cite ODNB |title=The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |date=2004-09-23 |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/29633 |editor-last=Matthew |editor-first=H. C. G. |access-date=2023-11-11 |place=Oxford |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/29633 |editor2-last=Harrison |editor2-first=B.|url-access=subscription }}

He was first apprenticed to a physician in St Andrews where he became skilled in constructing mercury thermometers in glass. In 1737, he left for London to make his fortune, He found work as assistant to a French surgeon-apothecary, which included caring for his patients. During this time he was introduced to Lord Isla who like Wilson was interested in astronomy, and Wilson constructed instruments for Isla during 1738.

After visiting a type foundry with a friend in London, he had an idea for making better typefaces. He and his friend John Baine returned to St Andrews in 1739, where they started a type foundry business in 1742. For example, in 1756 Wilson Greek typefaces were used to print classics of Greek literature.

University of Glasgow

In 1744, his type foundry moved to Camlachie, near Glasgow and in 1748 he was appointed type-founder to the University of Glasgow. In the following year the partnership with Baine was dissolved. Later his sons became partners. He supplied types to the Foulis press making possible beautiful and artistic publications. Among modern typefaces, Fontana, Scotch Roman, and Wilson Greek are based on types cut by Wilson.

In 1749, Wilson made the first recorded use of kites in meteorology with his lodger, a 23-year-old University of Glasgow student Thomas Melvill. They simultaneously measured air temperature at various levels above the ground with a train of kites. Melvill went on to discover sodium light.

In 1757, Wilson invented hydrostatic bubbles, a form of hydrometer.{{Cite web|url=https://www.maas.museum/inside-the-collection/2014/03/03/philosophical-bubbles-alcohol-content-and-the-awesome-significance-of-glass/|title=Philosophical bubbles, alcohol content and the awesome significance of glass|website=Inside the Collection}}

In 1760, with the support of his friend Lord Isla, the 3rd Duke of Argyle, Wilson was appointed to the new chair of practical astronomy at the University of Glasgow, as the University has recently completed the Macfarlane Observatory. Wilson primarily made contributions to astronomy and meteorology, and posited that "what hinders the fixed stars from falling upon one another", the question that Newton had posed in his Opticks (1704), was that the entire universe rotated around its centre.

Wilson noted that sunspots viewed near the edge of the Sun's visible disk appear depressed below the solar surface, a phenomenon referred to as the Wilson effect. When the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters announced a prize to be awarded for the best essay on the nature of solar spots, Wilson submitted an entry. On 18 February 1772 the Academy presented Wilson with a gold medalLomholt, Asger (1942) Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab 1742–1942. Samlinger til Selskabets Historie, volume I {{in lang|da}}. Copenhagen, Ejnar Munksgaard, page 67. for his work on sunspots.Kiøbenhavnske Efterretninger om lærde Sager from Thursday 7 May 1772 (No. 19, p. 289). It reads: "In the Mathematics category it was found that Alexander Wilson, M.D., professor of Astronomy at the University of Glasgow in Scotland, deserved the prize; although his hypothesis about the solar spots is not deemed to have been sufficiently proven." ("I den Mathematiske Classe, hvor det Problem om Soel-Pletterne etc. var udsat, fandt man, at Alexander Wilson, M.D., Professor i Astronomien ved Universitetet i Glasgow i Scotland, havde fortient Præmium; Skiønt man ey anseer hans Hypothese over Soel-Pletterne at være tilstrækkelig beviist.")

The crater Wilson on the Moon is named for him, Ralph Elmer Wilson and C. T. R. Wilson.

He, and his second son Patrick Wilson, were two of the founding members of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE). Patrick wrote a biographical article of his father which was published both in the Transactions of the RSE and Edinburgh Journal of Science.{{Cite journal | last1 = Wilson | first1 = Patrick |author-link=Patrick Wilson (astronomer)| year = 1824 | title = Biographical account of Alexander Wilson, MD, late professor of practical astronomy in Glasgow | url = https://zenodo.org/record/1962752| journal = Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh | volume = 10 | issue = 2 | pages = 279–97 | doi = 10.1017/S0080456800024339 | s2cid = 162651162 }}Also published in [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/20116#page/15/mode/1up Edinburgh Journal of Science 10:1–17] from the Biodiversity Heritage Library.

In 1783 he was a joint founder of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. He died in Edinburgh on 16 October 1786.{{cite book|title=Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002|date=July 2006|publisher=The Royal Society of Edinburgh|isbn=978-0-902198-84-5|url=https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp2.pdf|access-date=7 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304074135/https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp2.pdf|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=dead}}

Personal life

In 1740 Wilson married Jean, the daughter of William Sharp, a merchant in St Andrews. Together they had at least three sons. He married for a second time in 1752.

References

Royal Society of Edinburgh [http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Societies/RSE.html Retrieved 10 Mar 2009]
Williamson, Peter & Woodby, John, 'Scottish Book Trade Index (SBTI)', National Library of Scotland' [https://web.archive.org/web/20090803064649/http://www.nls.uk/catalogues/resources/sbti/williamson_woodby.html Retrieved 19 Dec 2008]
Smith, George Fairfull, "Robert & Andrew Foulis, the Foulis Press, and Their Legacy", [http://special.lib.gla.ac.uk/exhibns/foulis/index.htm Retrieved 19 Dec 2008.]
Stronach, George, rev. Hutchins, Roger, "Wilson, Alexander (1714–1786)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004, [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/29633 Retrieved 19 Dec 2008]
Wilson, Alexander (1774) "Observations on Solar Spots", Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London 64, part I.
{{cite web | title=Alexander Wilson | work=MacTutor archive | url=http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Mathematicians/Wilson_Alexander.html | access-date=4 December 2005 }}