Edgar William Middlemast (1864–1915) was a British mathematician and educator in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

in the early twentieth century. He served as the Deputy Director of the Department of Public Instruction,

Madras Presidency The Madras Presidency or Madras Province, officially called the Presidency of Fort St. George until 1937, was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India and later the Dominion of India. At its greatest extent, the presidency i ...

, as Professor of Mathematics at the

Presidency College, Madras Presidency College is an art, commerce, and science college in the city of Chennai in Tamil Nadu, India. On 16 October 1840, this school was established as the Madras Preparatory School before being repurposed as a high school, and then a gra ...

from 1910 and as

Principal Principal may refer to: Title or rank * Principal (academia), the chief executive of a university ** Principal (education), the head of a school * Principal (civil service) or principal officer, the senior management level in the UK Civil Ser ...

of the college in 1915.

Early life and education

Middlemast was born to Edward William Middlemast of

Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...

, a provision dealer, and his wife Margaret at Wallsend on 9 December 1864; he was

baptised Baptism (from ) is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by aspersion, sprinkling or affusion, pouring water on the head, or by immersion baptism, immersing in water eit ...

on 16 April 1865. He had his schooling at the Royal Grammar School, Newcastle upon Tyne and studied at

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College, formally the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge, is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch L ...

between 1882 and 1886. Middlemast was placed tenth wrangler in the

Mathematical tripos The Mathematical Tripos is the mathematics course that is taught in the Faculty of Mathematics, University of Cambridge, Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge. Origin In its classical nineteenth-century form, the tripos was a di ...

, Part I in 1886.

Career

Middlemast was appointed Professor of the Madras Engineering College in September 1888 and served till March 1897, when he was appointed Principal of the Government Arts College, Rajahmundry. In July 1903, Middlemast was appointed Deputy Director of Public Instruction in the

. Middlemast was deputed to the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

by the government in 1904, to review the education system in the country. In July 1905, he was appointed

fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

of Madras University. Middlemast was appointed Professor of Mathematics at the

in 1910, and served as its Principal in 1915. He also served as an Inspector of schools from 1910 to 1915. Middlemast was the President of the

Indian Mathematical Society The Indian Mathematical Society (IMS) is the oldest organization in India devoted to the promotion of study and research in mathematics. The Society was founded in April 1907 by V. Ramaswamy Aiyer with its headquarters at Pune. The Society start ...

in 1915. On 21 September 1911, Middlemast wrote a strong letter of recommendation for a then-unknown youth named

Srinivasa Ramanujan Srinivasa Ramanujan Aiyangar (22 December 188726 April 1920) was an Indian mathematician. Often regarded as one of the greatest mathematicians of all time, though he had almost no formal training in pure mathematics, he made substantial con ...

, who was applying for the position of Clerk at the Madras Port Trust. Edgar Middlemast died at Wrotham in Kent in July 1915.

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Middlemast, E. W. 1864 births 1915 deaths Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge English mathematicians Academic staff of Presidency College, Chennai British people in colonial India Presidents of the Indian Mathematical Society Mathematicians from British India People from the Madras Presidency