George Pirie (19 July 1843 – 21 August 1904) was a Scottish mathematician, mathematical scientist, and Reverend in the Church of Scotland. He was an expert in the field of dynamics and the approximation of .

Early life and education

Pirie was the son of Very Rev

William Robinson Pirie William Robinson Pirie (1804–1885) was a Scottish minister who served as Principal of Aberdeen University. He served as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1864, the highest position in the Church of Scotland. He acti ...

and his wife, Margaret Chalmers Forbes, daughter of Very Rev Lewis William Forbes. He was born in the manse at

Dyce Dyce () is a suburb of Aberdeen, Scotland, situated on the River Don about northwest of the city centre. It is best known as the location of Aberdeen Airport. History Dyce is the site of an early medieval church dedicated to the 8th centu ...

near

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

on 19 July 1843. He was educated at

Aberdeen Grammar School Aberdeen Grammar School is a state secondary school in Aberdeen, Scotland. It is one of thirteen secondary schools run by the Aberdeen City Council educational department. It is the oldest school in the city and one of the oldest schools in the ...

. He then studied Mathematics and Physics (then called Natural Philosophy) at The University of Aberdeen under Prof David Thomson. He graduated MA in 1862. He then won a place at

Queens' College, Cambridge Queens' College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the 16 "old colleges" of the university, and was founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. Its buildings span the R ...

. He was Fifth 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 ...

of 1866.

Career

Pirie was a Fellow of Queens' College from 1866 to 1888. He lectured at Cambridge from 1866 and in 1878 was offered the chair as Professor of Mathematics at

Aberdeen University The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in post-nominals; ) is a public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bishop of Aberdeen and Chancellor of Scotland, petitioned Pope Al ...

in replacement of Prof Frederick Fuller. Pirie was elected a member of the

London Mathematical Society The London Mathematical Society (LMS) is one of the United Kingdom's Learned society, learned societies for mathematics (the others being the Royal Statistical Society (RSS), the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications (IMA), the Edinburgh ...

in November 1881. He also took part in the activities of the Aberdeen Branch of the

Royal Scottish Geographical Society The Royal Scottish Geographical Society (RSGS) is an educational charity based in Perth, Scotland, founded in 1884. The purpose of the society is to advance the subject of geography worldwide, inspire people to learn more about the world around ...

. Since 1881 he was also a member of the Aberdeen Philosophical Society, and served as a Vice-President of the society in 1900.

Personal life

He lived at 33 College Bounds close to King's College in

Old Aberdeen Old Aberdeen is part of Aberdeen in Scotland. Old Aberdeen was originally a separate burgh, which was erected into a burgh of barony on 26 December 1489. It was incorporated into adjacent Aberdeen by Act of Parliament in 1891. It retains the sta ...

. He was married to Anne Elizabeth Reid daughter of Rev Reid of Auchindoir. Their children included Margaret Forbes Pirie (1884–1963) and Elizabeth Mary Pirie (1888–1971). He died unexpectedly at

Braemar Braemar is a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, around west of Aberdeen in the Highlands. It is the closest significantly-sized settlement to the upper course of the River Dee, sitting at an elevation of . The Gaelic ''Bràigh Mhàrr'' p ...

on 21 August 1904, from heart failure. He is buried next to his parents on the north side 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 ...

Recognition

He was awarded an honorary doctorate (

LL.D A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for ''Legum Doctor'', with the double “L” in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law ...

) by St. Andrews University in 1896.

Publications

* *''A Short Account of the Principal Geometrical Methods of Approximating to the Value of ''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pirie, George 1843 births 1904 deaths People from Aberdeen People educated at Aberdeen Grammar School Academics of the University of Aberdeen Scottish mathematicians Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge