Alexander Wilson (171416 October 1786) was a Scottish surgeon, type-founder, astronomer, mathematician and meteorologist. He was the first scientist to use kites in meteorological investigations. He was the first Regius Professor of Practical Astronomy at the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

Early life

Wilson was born in

St Andrews St Andrews (; ; , pronounced ʰʲɪʎˈrˠiː.ɪɲ is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fourth-largest settleme ...

, Fife, the son of Clara Fairfoul and Patrick Wilson, the town clerk of St Andrews. He was educated at the

University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...

, graduating in 1733 with an MA. He was first apprenticed to a physician in St Andrews where he became skilled in constructing mercury

thermometer A thermometer is a device that measures temperature (the hotness or coldness of an object) or temperature gradient (the rates of change of temperature in space). A thermometer has two important elements: (1) a temperature sensor (e.g. the bulb ...

s in glass. In 1737, he left for London to make his fortune, He found work as assistant to a French surgeon-

apothecary ''Apothecary'' () is an Early Modern English, archaic English term for a medicine, medical professional who formulates and dispenses ''materia medica'' (medicine) to physicians, surgeons and patients. The modern terms ''pharmacist'' and, in Brit ...

, 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 A type foundry is a company that designs or distributes typefaces. Before digital typography, type foundries manufactured and sold metal and wood typefaces for hand typesetting, and matrices for line-casting machines like the Linotype and ...

with a friend in London, he had an idea for making better

typeface A typeface (or font family) is a design of Letter (alphabet), letters, Numerical digit, numbers and other symbols, to be used in printing or for electronic display. Most typefaces include variations in size (e.g., 24 point), weight (e.g., light, ...

s. 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 Camlachie (; ) is an area of Glasgow in Scotland, located in the East End of the city, between Dennistoun to the north, and Bridgeton to the south. Formerly a weaving village on the Camlachie Burn, it then developed as an important industrial s ...

, near

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

and in 1748 he was appointed type-founder to the

. 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

kite A kite is a tethered heavier than air flight, heavier-than-air craft with wing surfaces that react against the air to create Lift (force), lift and Drag (physics), drag forces. A kite consists of wings, tethers and anchors. Kites often have ...

s in

meteorology Meteorology is the scientific study of the Earth's atmosphere and short-term atmospheric phenomena (i.e. weather), with a focus on weather forecasting. It has applications in the military, aviation, energy production, transport, agricultur ...

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 A hydrometer or lactometer is an instrument used for measuring density or relative density of liquids based on the concept of buoyancy. They are typically Calibration, calibrated and Graduation (instrument), graduated with one or more scales suc ...

. 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

, 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

sunspot Sunspots are temporary spots on the Sun's surface that are darker than the surrounding area. They are one of the most recognizable Solar phenomena and despite the fact that they are mostly visible in the solar photosphere they usually aff ...

s 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 medal for his work on sunspots. 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 Patrick Joseph Wilson (born July 3, 1973) is an American actor. He began his career in 1995, starring in Broadway theatre, Broadway musicals. He received nominations for two Tony Awards for his roles in ''The Full Monty (musical), The Full Mont ...

, 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''. In 1783 he was a joint founder of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. 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 16 October 1786.

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 Edinburg
Retrieved 10 Mar 2009
* Williamson, Peter & Woodby, John, 'Scottish Book Trade Index (SBTI)', National Library of Scotland

* Smith, George Fairfull, "Robert & Andrew Foulis, the Foulis Press, and Their Legacy"

* Stronach, George, rev. Hutchins, Roger, "Wilson, Alexander (1714–1786)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'',

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 2004
Retrieved 19 Dec 2008
* Wilson, Alexander (1774) "Observations on Solar Spots", ''Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London'' 64, part I. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Alexander 1714 births 1786 deaths People from St Andrews 18th-century British astronomers 18th-century Scottish mathematicians 18th-century Scottish scientists 18th-century Scottish medical doctors Alumni of the University of St Andrews Academics of the University of Glasgow Founder fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Members of the Philosophical Society of Edinburgh Scottish pharmacists British typographers and type designers Scottish astronomers 18th-century Scottish businesspeople Scottish designers Scottish inventors Scottish surgeons Scottish meteorologists British scientific instrument makers 18th-century British pharmacists