Eric Gray Forbes (1933-1984) FRSE FRAS was Professor of the History of Science at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

Life

He was born in St. Andrews in

Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

on 30 March 1933. He went to Madras College in

St Andrews University The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, following the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, t ...

and graduated BSc. He then continued as a postgraduate at St Andrews and the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

gaining a PhD in Astronomy. From 1961 to 1965 he lectured in mathematics and physics at St Marys College in

Twickenham Twickenham ( ) is a suburban district of London, England, on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historic counties of England, Historically in Middlesex, since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, who ...

. In 1965 he moved to take up a post at the University of Edinburgh and was given his professorship in 1978. He did much research on longitude and navigation in the 18th century and on

John Flamsteed John Flamsteed (19 August 1646 – 31 December 1719) was an English astronomer and the first Astronomer Royal. His main achievements were the preparation of a 3,000-star catalogue, ''Catalogus Britannicus'', and a star atlas called '' Atlas ...

former Astronomer Royal, and on the German scientist

Tobias Mayer Tobias Mayer (17 February 172320 February 1762) was a German astronomer famous for his studies of the Moon. He was born at Marbach, in Württemberg, and brought up at Esslingen in poor circumstances. A self-taught mathematician, he earned a l ...

. He made major contributions to the 1980s project, Scotland's Cultural Heritage. In 1984 he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

. He died in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

on 21 November 1984. On his death his wife donated a substantial collection of his books to the University of Edinburgh

Family

In 1966 he married Maria Sibilla Lürken, a German linguist. They had a daughter and a son.

Publications

*''The Euler-Mayer Correspondence'' 1751-1755 (1971) *''The Unpublished Writings of Tobias Mayer'' (1972) *''Mesopotamian and Greek Influence on Ancient Indian Astronomy'' (1977) *''The Geodetic Link Between the Greenwich and Paris Observatories in 1787'' (1985) *''Tobias Mayer 1723-1762'' (1980) (German translation, 1993) *''The Correspondence of John Flamsteed'' vol.1-3 (1995-2001) *''Roger Bacon’s Science of Experience''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Forbes, Eric Gray 1933 births 1984 deaths Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Alumni of the University of St Andrews Academics of the University of Edinburgh Scottish astronomers 20th-century non-fiction writers