John Robinson Airey
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

John Robinson Airey (1868–1937) was a British schoolteacher, mathematician and astrophysicist.


Early life

Airey was the eldest child of William Airey, a
stone mason In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks form the Earth's ...
, and Elizabeth Airey, who were both born in Preston under Scar, North Yorkshire. He was the oldest from four siblings, the other three being Elizabeth Ann (born 1870),
Edwin The name Edwin means "wealth-friend". It comes from (wealth, good fortune) and (friend). Thus the Old English form is Ēadwine, a name widely attested in early medieval England. Edwina is the feminine form of the name. Notable people and char ...
(1878–1955), and Maud (about 1880). The 1871 census showed the family was living at
Hunslet Hunslet () is an inner-city area in south Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is southeast of the Leeds city centre, city centre and has an industrial past. It is situated in the Hunslet and Riverside (ward), Hunslet and Riverside ward of Lee ...
,
Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...
; by 1881 they had moved to 28 Grosvenor Street, West
Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...
.


Teaching career

In his youth, Airey studied at Blenheim
Board School School boards were ''ad hoc'' public bodies in England and Wales that existed between 1870 and 1902, and established and administered Elementary school (England and Wales), elementary schools. Creation The Elementary Education Act 1870 (33 & ...
and
Leeds Central High School Leeds Central High School (previously Leeds Central Higher Grade School) was the first local authority secondary school opened by the Leeds School Board, West Yorkshire, England, in 1885 using the school-room attached to Oxford Place Chapel. In ...
. He then worked as an teaching assistant at the high school in the science department. At the same time he studied at
Yorkshire College The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...
(later the
University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...
) for a
University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...
external B.Sc., which was awarded in 1894. From 1896 Airey taught maths at
Porth Porth () is a town and community in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales. Lying in the Rhondda Valley, it is regarded as the gateway connecting the Rhondda Fawr and Rhondda Fach va ...
Intermediate School, Glamorganshire, until 1903. At the age of 35 he left Porth to
matriculate Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term ''matriculation'' is seldom used now ...
at St. John's College, Cambridge, for three years as a foundation scholar; reading the
Natural Science Tripos The Natural Sciences Tripos is the framework within which most of the science at the University of Cambridge is taught. The tripos includes a wide range of Natural Sciences from physics, astronomy, and geoscience, to chemistry and biology, which ...
. In 1906 he received his
Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...
with first-class honours. Additionally, he received 3 awards from the college: Wright's prize for distinguished performance, the Hockin prize in electricity and experimental physics, and the Hughes prize for best third-year student. After attaining his degree, Airey went on to work in administering school systems. From 1906 to 1912 he worked as the headmaster of Morley Grammar School, now
The Morley Academy The Morley Academy is a mixed secondary school located in Morley, West Yorkshire, England. The school forms part of the Gorse Academies Trust which also includes The Farnley Academy, The Ruth Gorse Academy and the Elliott Hudson College. H ...
. In 1912 he moved to London and became principal of the West Ham Technical Institute, a post he held until 1918. In 1915, while at West Ham, he was awarded a
Doctorate of Science A Doctor of Science (; most commonly abbreviated DSc or ScD) is a science doctorate awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. Africa Algeria and Morocco In Algeria, Morocco, Libya and Tunisia, all universities accredited by the s ...
(D.Sc.) by London University. His final position was as principal of the
City of Leeds Training College The City of Leeds Training College was a teacher training college established in 1907 at Beckett Park in Leeds in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. After merging with the Carnegie College of Physical Education in 1968 it was renamed the Cit ...
from 1918 until his retirement in 1933. On retirement an Address was presented to him:- : Not only by your own achievements, but in your own addresses to us, you have held up the torch of learning-learning which can only be won by persistent and earnest effort. : Serene in calm and storm, you have at all times steered a straight course, your actions characterized by sincerity of purpose and a love of what is right. : You will live in our memories as a Principal and a friend whose words were few, and whose happy and kindly disposition shone out so brightly that even your reproofs were tinged with humour. Not least we shall cherish your memory because you showed us a religion based on simple faith and a reverential search for truth. In 1926 he was granted a second doctorate, an
Sc.D. A Doctor of Science (; most commonly abbreviated DSc or ScD) is a science doctorate awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. Africa Algeria and Morocco In Algeria, Morocco, Libya and Tunisia, all universities accredited by the s ...
of Cambridge.


Mathematics

Airey became a member of the
Mathematical Tables Mathematical tables are lists of numbers showing the results of a calculation with varying arguments. Trigonometric tables were used in ancient Greece and India for applications to astronomy and celestial navigation, and continued to be widely us ...
Committee of the
British Association for the Advancement of Science The British Science Association (BSA) is a Charitable organization, charity and learned society founded in 1831 to aid in the promotion and development of science. Until 2009 it was known as the British Association for the Advancement of Scienc ...
in 1911 and was its secretary from 1916 to 1929. He published many of his own tables ''Mathematical Tables and Other Aids to Computation'', ''Reports of the British Association for the Advancement of Science'' and in '' Proceedings of the London Physical Society''. He was also co-editor of the ''
Philosophical Magazine The ''Philosophical Magazine'' is one of the oldest scientific journals published in English. It was established by Alexander Tilloch in 1798;John Burnett"Tilloch, Alexander (1759–1825)" Dictionary of National Biography#Oxford Dictionary of ...
''. When at Cambridge he showed an interest in
computation A computation is any type of arithmetic or non-arithmetic calculation that is well-defined. Common examples of computation are mathematical equation solving and the execution of computer algorithms. Mechanical or electronic devices (or, hist ...
in general, particularly in
Bessel Bessel may refer to: Mathematics and science * Bessel beam * Bessel ellipsoid * Bessel function in mathematics * Bessel's inequality in mathematics * Bessel's correction in statistics * Bessel filter, a linear filter often used in audio crossover ...
and the
hypergeometric function In mathematics, the Gaussian or ordinary hypergeometric function 2''F''1(''a'',''b'';''c'';''z'') is a special function represented by the hypergeometric series, that includes many other special functions as specific or limiting cases. It is ...
s. He spent the rest of his life developing methods to compute these functions and tabulated many sets of functions:
Neumann function Bessel functions, named after Friedrich Bessel who was the first to systematically study them in 1824, are canonical solutions of Bessel's differential equation x^2 \frac + x \frac + \left(x^2 - \alpha^2 \right)y = 0 for an arbitrary complex ...
s,
sine In mathematics, sine and cosine are trigonometric functions of an angle. The sine and cosine of an acute angle are defined in the context of a right triangle: for the specified angle, its sine is the ratio of the length of the side opposite th ...
s and
cosine In mathematics, sine and cosine are trigonometric functions of an angle. The sine and cosine of an acute angle are defined in the context of a right triangle: for the specified angle, its sine is the ratio of the length of the side opposite that ...
s in
radian The radian, denoted by the symbol rad, is the unit of angle in the International System of Units (SI) and is the standard unit of angular measure used in many areas of mathematics. It is defined such that one radian is the angle subtended at ...
measure (needed in turn for the computation of
transcendental function In mathematics, a transcendental function is an analytic function that does not satisfy a polynomial equation whose coefficients are functions of the independent variable that can be written using only the basic operations of addition, subtraction ...
s), the Lommel-Weber function and the
confluent hypergeometric function In mathematics, a confluent hypergeometric function is a solution of a confluent hypergeometric equation, which is a degenerate form of a hypergeometric differential equation where two of the three regular singularities merge into an irregular s ...
s. In a collation of notable mathematical table makers, Archibald lists Airey as one of the most prolific compilers of tables, with 49 to his credit. Many of these tables were of relevance to Airey's interest in astronomy and astrophysics. According to Dr Comrie, the
British Association The British Science Association (BSA) is a charity and learned society founded in 1831 to aid in the promotion and development of science. Until 2009 it was known as the British Association for the Advancement of Science (BA). The current Chief ...
's tables of
Emden Emden () is an Independent city (Germany), independent town and seaport in Lower Saxony in the north-west of Germany and lies on the River Ems (river), Ems, close to the Germany–Netherlands border, Netherlands border. It is the main town in t ...
's function were calculated by methods suggested by Airey. Airey joined the
Royal Astronomical Society The Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) is a learned society and charitable organisation, charity that encourages and promotes the study of astronomy, planetary science, solar-system science, geophysics and closely related branches of science. Its ...
in 1912 and was elected a Fellow in 1931. He joined the
Edinburgh Mathematical Society The Edinburgh Mathematical Society is a mathematical society for academics in Scotland. History The Society was founded in 1883 by a group of Edinburgh school teachers and academics, on the initiative of Alexander Yule Fraser FRSE and Andrew ...
in November 1913, when at West Ham.


Personal life

His brother, Sir Edwin Airey was an industrialist responsible for the Airey
prefabricated houses Prefabrication is the practice of assembling components of a structure in a factory or other manufacturing site, and transporting complete assemblies or sub-assemblies to the construction site where the structure is to be located. Some research ...
constructed in the UK after the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. In 1910 Airey married Gwenllian. She had been born at
Ystradyfodwg Ystradyfodwg or Ystrad Dyfodwg (Vale of Tyfodwg) was an ancient upland parish in Glamorgan, Wales. It is believed to have been named after Dyfodwg (or Tyfodwg) a 6th-century saint or chieftain. The parish included most of the area which would lat ...
, Glamorgan, about 1880. He died aged 69 on 16 September 1937 at his home of Llwynon,
Newtown, Montgomeryshire Newtown () is a town in Powys, Wales. It lies on the River Severn in the community of Newtown and Llanllwchaiarn, within the historic boundaries of Montgomeryshire. It was designated a new town in 1967 and saw population growth as firms settl ...
, Wales, after an illness of six months. His obituaries appeared in ''
Nature Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...
'' and the ''Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society''.


Publications

Source: * * * * * *


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Airey, John Robinson Heads of schools in Yorkshire 20th-century English mathematicians 1868 births 1937 deaths People from Hunslet British astrophysicists Alumni of the University of Leeds Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge 20th-century English educators 19th-century English educators Heads of schools in London