Robert McNair Ferguson

Robert McNair Ferguson
Front page of Electricity (1866)
Born (1829-07-08)July 8, 1829
Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, Scotland
Died December 31, 1912(1912-12-31) (aged 83)
Edinburgh, Scotland
Resting place Cemetery of The Grange, Edinburgh
55°56′06″N 3°11′25″W / 55.934944°N 3.190369°W / 55.934944; -3.190369
Alma mater University of Edinburgh
University of Heidelberg
Known for Founder of the Edinburgh Mathematical Society
Scientific career
Fields Mathematics
Institutions Edinburgh Institute
Thesis  (1855)
Doctoral advisor Robert Bunsen
Notable students William Cunningham

Dr Robert McNair Ferguson FRSE FRSSA (1829–1912) was a Scottish mathematician, one of the founders of the Edinburgh Mathematical Society.

Life and work

12 Moray Place, Edinburgh
The grave of Robert McNair Ferguson, Grange Cemetery, Edinburgh

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.[1] 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.[2] 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.[3]

In later life he lived at 12 Moray Place, a substantial Georgian townhouse on the fashionable Moray Estate in Edinburgh's West End.[4]

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

  1. ↑ Brock, page 218.
  2. ↑ Cunningham, page 8.
  3. ↑ Rankin, page 147.
  4. ↑ Edinburgh Post Office Directory 1891-2


  • Brock, W.H. (2013). "Bunsen's British Students". Ambix. 60 (3): 203–233. doi:10.1179/0002698013Z.00000000032.
  • Cunningham, Audrey (1950). William Cunningham: Teacher and Priest. S.P.K.C.
  • Rankin, R.A (1983). "The First Hundred Years". Proceedings of the Edinburgh Mathematical Society. 26: 135–150. doi:10.1017/S0013091500016849.
  • O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "Robert McNair Ferguson", MacTutor History of Mathematics archive, University of St Andrews .
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