David Gibb

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

(31 October 1883 – 28 March 1946) was a Scottish mathematician and astronomer. He was the first person to use the term ''

numerical integration In analysis, numerical integration comprises a broad family of algorithms for calculating the numerical value of a definite integral. The term numerical quadrature (often abbreviated to quadrature) is more or less a synonym for "numerical integr ...

''.

Life

Gibb, eldest son of Robert Gibb, a salt manufacturer, and his wife Joanna, was born in Methil near

Leven, Fife Leven (Pictish language, Pictish; ) is a seaside town in Fife, set in the east Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies on the coast of the Firth of Forth at the mouth of the River Leven, Fife, River Leven, north-east of the town of Kirkcaldy and ...

on 31 October 1883. He attended Leven Public School and then George Watsons College 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 ...

(1896–99). He studied mathematics and sciences 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 ...

, graduating with a MA/BSc in 1906 . While being a student, he lodged with Mr Flockhart at 3 West Preston Street, Edinburgh. In 1909 he began lecturing in mathematics at the university. In 1910 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 ...

for his contributions to mathematics and astronomy. His proposers were

George Chrystal George Chrystal FRSE FRS (8 March 1851 – 3 November 1911) was a Scottish mathematician. 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 Meda ...

, Sir Frank Watson Dyson, Cargill Gilston Knott and Ellice Horsburgh. During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

he worked on the Ballistic Department Ordnance Committee at the

Royal Arsenal The Royal Arsenal, Woolwich is an establishment on the south bank of the River Thames in Woolwich in south-east London, England, that was used for the manufacture of armaments and ammunition, proof test, proofing, and explosives research for ...

Woolwich Woolwich () is a town in South London, southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was mainta ...

, remotely calculating complex gun angles to fire on hidden or obscured targets, such as at the Gallipoli peninsula. He returned to the University of Edinburgh after the war. From 1920 he had been President of the Edinburgh Mathematical Society. In 1934 he was promoted to Reader in Mathematics and remained in this role until his death in 1946. He died in

on 28 March 1946.The Scotsman (newspaper) 30 March 1946

Publications

*''A Course in Interpolation and Numeric Integration for the Mathematical Laboratory'' (1915)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gibb, David 1883 births 1946 deaths Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh People from Methil Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Academics of the University of Edinburgh Scottish mathematicians Scottish astronomers