Robert McNair Ferguson
{{Short description|Scottish mathematician}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{infobox scientist
| name = Robert McNair Ferguson
| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|FRSE|FRSSA|size=100%}}
| box_size =
| image = Electricity by Robert M Ferguson.png
| image_size =
| caption = Front page of Electricity (1866)
| birth_date = {{birth date|1829|07|8|df=y}}
| birth_place = Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, Scotland
| death_date = {{death date and age|1912|12|31|1829|07|8|df=y}}
| death_place = Edinburgh, Scotland
| resting_place = Cemetery of The Grange, Edinburgh
| resting_place_coordinates = {{coord|55.934944|-3.190369}}
| residence =
| citizenship =
| nationality =
| field = Mathematics
| work_institutions = Edinburgh Institute
| alma_mater = University of Edinburgh
University of Heidelberg
| thesis_title =
| thesis_url =
| thesis_year = 1855
| doctoral_advisor = Robert Bunsen
| notable_students = William Cunningham
| doctoral_students =
| known_for = Founder of the Edinburgh Mathematical Society
| influences =
| influenced =
| prizes =
| religion =
| signature =
| foot_notes =
}}
Robert McNair Ferguson {{post-nominals|country=GBR|FRSE|FRSSA}} (1829–1912) was a Scottish mathematician and a founder of the Edinburgh Mathematical Society.
Life and work
File:12 Moray Place, Edinburgh.jpg
File:The grave of Robert McNair Ferguson, Grange Cemetery, Edinburgh.jpg
He was born on 8 July 1829, the son of John Ferguson, a pawnbroker, and his wife, Elisabeth Cochran.
He was educated at the Free Church Training College (Edinburgh). He studied natural philosophy in the university of Edinburgh and, after, in the university of Heidelberg where he was awarded with a PhD in 1855 tutored by Robert Bunsen.{{smallcaps|Brock}}, page 218. From 1858 till his retirement in 1898 he was headmaster in the Edinburgh Institute (now known as Stewart's Melville College), where he taught among others William Cunningham.{{smallcaps|Cunningham}}, page 8. He lost a leg in a school laboratory explosion in 1897.
He was founding member of the Edinburgh Mathematical Society in 1883 and was elected his president in 1885–1886.{{smallcaps|Rankin}}, page 147.
In later life he lived at 12 Moray Place, a substantial Georgian townhouse on the fashionable Moray Estate in Edinburgh's West End.Edinburgh Post Office Directory 1891-2
He died on 31 December 1912. He is buried in the south-east section of Grange Cemetery in south Edinburgh.
Family
He was married to Margaret Monteith (1814-1892).
References
{{reflist|2}}
- {{cite journal
| last = Brock
| first = W.H.
| title = Bunsen's British Students
| language = en
| journal = Ambix
| volume = 60
| issue = 3
| year = 2013
| pages = 203–233
| issn =
| doi= 10.1179/0002698013Z.00000000032
| s2cid = 170641626
}}
- {{cite book
| last = Cunningham
| first = Audrey
| chapter =
| editor =
| title = William Cunningham: Teacher and Priest
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=7YhDAAAAIAAJ
| year = 1950
| publisher = S.P.K.C.
| language = en
| pages =
| isbn =
}}
- {{cite journal
| last = Rankin
| first = R.A
| title = The First Hundred Years
| language = en
| journal = Proceedings of the Edinburgh Mathematical Society
| volume = 26
| issue = 2
| year = 1983
| pages = 135–150
| issn =
| doi= 10.1017/S0013091500016849
| doi-access = free
}}
External links
- {{MacTutor|id=Ferguson}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferguson, Robert MacNair}}
Category:Scientists from Edinburgh