Prof David Thomson (1817–1880) was a 19th-century Scottish physicist. He was known as Davie Thomson or later Auld Dauvit.

Life

He was born on 27 November 1817 the son of David Thomson a merchant in Leghorn in Italy. He was educated in Italy and

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

then sent to

Glasgow University The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in post-nominals; ) is a public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ...

in 1832. In 1836 he won a place at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

where he gained a BA in 1839 (and was granted MA in 1845). From 1840 he acted as substitute Professor of Natural Philosophy (Physics) in place of William Meikleham at

. His most notable student was William Thomson, Lord Kelvin. In 1845 he got a permanent position at

King's College, Aberdeen King's College in Old Aberdeen, Scotland, the full title of which is The University and King's College of Aberdeen (''Collegium Regium Aberdonense''), is a formerly independent university founded in 1495 and now an integral part of the Univer ...

. In 1854 he became Sub-Principal of the college. When King's and

Marischal College Marischal College ( ) is a large granite building on Broad Street in the centre of Aberdeen in north-east Scotland, and since 2011 has been the headquarters of Aberdeen City Council. The building was constructed for and is on long-term lease fr ...

merged in 1860 to create the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; ) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bis ...

he was kept on as Professor (in preference to the younger

James Clerk Maxwell James Clerk Maxwell (13 June 1831 – 5 November 1879) was a Scottish physicist and mathematician who was responsible for the classical theory of electromagnetic radiation, which was the first theory to describe electricity, magnetism an ...

, professor of natural philosophy at Marischal College) but was no longer Sub-Principal. His students included George Slessor and George Pirie. In 1863 he and a very young David Gill (then a young student) restored the university clock and also set up a fine telescope in the Cromwell Tower Observatory. It was Thomson who introduced Gill to astronomy. He died in his lodgings at Kings College on 31 January 1880. He is buried in the churchyard of

St Machar's Cathedral St Machar's Cathedral is a Church of Scotland church (building), church in Aberdeen, Scotland, located to the north of the city centre, in the former burgh of Old Aberdeen. Technically, St Machar's is no longer a cathedral but rather a Kirk ...

. The grave lies east of the church.

Publications

*Acoustics - article in 9th edition of

Encyclopedia Britannica An encyclopedia is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge, either general or special, in a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into article (publishing), articles or entries that are arranged Alp ...

. *Caledonia Romana (1852)

Artistic recognition

A marble bust of Thomson by John Hutchison RSA is held by Aberdeen University.

Family

He was outlived by his wife, one son and three daughters. At least five of his children died in infancy.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomson, David 1817 births 1880 deaths People from Livorno Alumni of the University of Cambridge Academics of the University of Aberdeen Scottish physicists