James Gordon Gray (1876 – 6 November 1934) was a Scottish mathematician and physicist.

Life

Grey was born in Glasgow in 1876, the third of eight children of Annie Gordon and Andrew Gray. He was educated at

Friars Grammar School A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century; the term distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the o ...

, in Bangor, Caernarvonshire, Wales, where his father was employed by the university. He attended the University College of North Wales until 1899, when his father and family moved back to

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated pop ...

. He studied engineering at the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

, graduating with a BScEng. From 1904, he was employed at a physics lecturer at the University, and received a doctorate (DSc) in 1908. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

he assisted with naval and aerial defence. From 1920 to 1934 he was professor of applied physics at the University of Glasgow. In 1909 he was elected a fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh 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 established i ...

. His proposers were his father, Andrew Gray, William Jack,

Cargill Gilston Knott Cargill Gilston Knott FRS, FRSE LLD (30 June 1856 – 26 October 1922) was a Scottish physicist and mathematician who was a pioneer in seismological research. He spent his early career in Japan. He later became a Fellow of the Royal Society, ...

and

George Chrystal George Chrystal FRSE FRS (8 March 1851 – 3 November 1911) was a Scottish mathematician. He is primarily know for his books on algebra and his studies of seiches (wave patterns in large inland bodies of water) which earned him a Gold Medal ...

. He died in Dowanhill in

on 6 November 1934.

Publications

*''Dynamics'' (1911) co-written with his father

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, James 1876 births 1934 deaths Scientists from Glasgow People educated at Friars School, Bangor Academics of the University of Glasgow Alumni of the University of Glasgow Scottish mathematicians Scottish physicists Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Scottish electrical engineers Mathematical physicists