George Chrystal
{{Short description|Scottish mathematician (1851–1911)}}
{{About|the Scottish mathematician|his son, Sir George Chrystal|George Chrystal (civil servant)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2017}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = George Chrystal
| honorific_suffix = FRSE
| image = George Chrystal.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = George Chrystal (1851–1911)
| birth_date = {{birth date|1851|3|8|df=y}}
| birth_place = Old Meldrum, Scotland, UK
| death_date = {{death date and age|1911|11|3|1851|3|8|df=y}}
| death_place = Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
| resting_place = Foveran Churchyard, Aberdeenshire
| citizenship =
| nationality = Scottish, UK
| ethnicity =
| fields = Physicist and mathematician
| workplaces = University of St Andrews
University of Cambridge
University of Edinburgh
| alma_mater = University of Aberdeen
Peterhouse, Cambridge
| doctoral_advisor =
| academic_advisors = James Clerk Maxwell
| doctoral_students =
| notable_students = Joseph Wedderburn
| known_for = Experimental verification of Ohm's law
Chrystal's equation
| author_abbrev_bot =
| author_abbrev_zoo =
| influences =
| influenced =
| awards = Royal Medal {{small|(1911)}}
| religion =
| signature =
| footnotes =
| spouse = Margaret Anne Balfour (1870-1903 her death)
}}
File:George Chrystal. Etching by W. Hole, 1884. Wellcome V0001125.jpg
File:Foveran Cemetery.jpg Churchyard]]
George Chrystal FRSE FRS (8 March 1851 – 3 November 1911) was a Scottish mathematician.{{cite journal|title=obit. Prof. George Chrystal|journal=Nature|volume=88|pages=47–49|date=9 November 1911|doi=10.1038/088047b0|last1=Knott|first1=C. G.|issue=2193|doi-access=free}} He is primarily known for his books on algebra and his studies of seiches (wave patterns in large inland bodies of water) which earned him a Gold Medal from the Royal Society of London that was confirmed shortly after his death.{{Cite web|url=http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/Biographies/Chrystal.html|title=Chrystal biography|website=www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk|access-date=2017-12-28}}
Life
He was born in Old Meldrum on 8 March 1851, the son of Margaret (née Burr) and William Chrystal, a wealthy farmer and grain merchant.{{Cite book |url=https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp1.pdf |title=Former Fellows of The Royal Society of Edinburgh, 1783–2002: Part 1 (A–J) |author=C D Waterston |author2=A Macmillan Shearer |publisher=Royal Society of Edinburgh |isbn=090219884X |date=July 2006 |access-date=18 September 2015 |archive-date=24 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130124115814/http://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp1.pdf |url-status=dead}}
He was educated at Aberdeen Grammar School and the University of Aberdeen. In 1872, he moved to study under James Clerk Maxwell at Peterhouse, Cambridge. He graduated Second Wrangler in 1875, joint with William Burnside, and was elected a fellow of Corpus Christi.{{acad|id=CHRL871G|name=Chrystal, George}} He was appointed to the Regius Chair of Mathematics at the University of St Andrews in 1877, and then in 1879 to the Chair in Mathematics at the University of Edinburgh. In 1911, he was awarded the Royal Medal of the Royal Society for his researches into the surface oscillations of Scottish lochs.{{Cite EB1922|wstitle=Chrystal, George}}
He was a contributor to the drafting of the Universities (Scotland) Act 1889, and was one of the founders of the Edinburgh Mathematical Society.
He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1880, his proposers including James Clerk Maxwell. He was awarded the Society's Keith Medal for 1879-81 and their Gunning Victoria Jubilee Prize for the period 1904–8. He served as Vice President of the Society from 1895-1901 and General Secretary from 1901–1911.{{Cite book |url=https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp1.pdf |title=Former Fellows of The Royal Society of Edinburgh, 1783–2002: Part 1 (A–J) |author=C D Waterston |author2=A Macmillan Shearer |publisher=Royal Society of Edinburgh |isbn=090219884X |date=July 2006 |access-date=18 September 2015 |archive-date=24 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130124115814/http://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp1.pdf |url-status=dead}} He is credited with instigating the move of the Society from the Mound to George Street.Obituary of George Chrystal:The Times, 4 November 1911{{Cite web |title=Chrystal and the RSE |url=http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/HistTopics/Chrystal_RSE.html}}
He was awarded honorary doctorates (LLD) from the University of Aberdeen in 1887 and the University of Glasgow in 1911.
In later life he is listed as living at 5 Belgrave Crescent in western Edinburgh.Edinburgh and Leith Post Office Directory 1890-1
The mathematician Alexander G. Burgess trained under him.{{Cite journal|url=http://journals.cambridge.org/download.php?file=%2FPEM%2FPEM2_3_04%2FS0013091500027395a.pdf&code=2e53e89d840c17f174f024857fd4885c|doi=10.1017/S0013091500027395|title=Alexander G. Burgess, M.A., D.SC, F.R.S.E.|year=1933|last1=Comrie|first1=Peter|journal=Proceedings of the Edinburgh Mathematical Society|volume=3|issue=4|page=300|doi-access=free}}
He grew ill in 1909 and this worsened early in 1911, leading the University to grant him leave of absence from April of that year. A work-free summer did not improve him.Obituary of George Chrystal: The Scotsman, 4 November 1911 He died on 3 November 1911{{Cite web|url=http://archiveshub.ac.uk/data/gb237-coll-172.pdf|title=Home - Archives Hub}} at 5 Belgrave Crescent in Edinburgh. He is buried in Foveran Churchyard in Aberdeenshire.
Family
File:5 Belgrave Crescent, Edinburgh.png
He married Margaret Anne Balfour (1851-1903) in 1879. She died before him and is buried in the northern Victorian extension to Dean Cemetery with their son Walter MacDonald Chrystal who died in infancy. They had four sons and two daughters.
Publications
- {{cite book | title = Algebra: An Elementary Text-Book for the Higher Classes of Secondary Schools and for Colleges. (Volumes I & II) | first = George | last = Chrystal | isbn = 978-0-8218-1931-9 | publisher = American Mathematical Society | edition = 7 | date = May 1999 |orig-year= 1886}} (Out of copyright: 1900 and subsequent editions are available in reprint or online.)
- Three articles within the 1911 edition of Encyclopædia Britannica: Pascal, Blaise; Perpetual Motion; and Riemann, Georg Friedrich Bernhard.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{wikisource author-inline}}
- {{MacTutor Biography|id=Chrystal}}
- Algebra: An Elementary Text-Book for the Higher Classes of Secondary Schools and for Colleges. [https://openlibrary.org/books/OL20544450M/Algebra_An_Elementary_Text-book_for_the_Higher_Classes_of_Secondary_Schools_and_for_Colleges Volume I], [https://archive.org/details/algebra00unkngoog Volume II]
{{Authority control}}
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Category:Alumni of the University of Aberdeen
Category:Alumni of Peterhouse, Cambridge
Category:Fellows of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
Category:Academics of the University of Edinburgh
Category:Scottish mathematicians