Rev John Wilson

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

FEIS (1847–1896) was a Scottish mathematician and physicist.

Life

Wilson was born in Montrose on 21 November 1847. In his youth he moved to

Bannockburn Bannockburn () is an area immediately south of the centre of Stirling in Scotland. It is part of the City of Stirling. It is named after the Bannock Burn, a stream running through the town before flowing into the River Forth. History Land in ...

, where his father, James Wilson, opened the "James Wilson School". He was educated at his father's school). He then studied mathematics and natural philosophy at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

graduating with an MA around 1866. He then trained as a Free Church minister at

New College, Edinburgh New College is a historic building at the The University of Edinburgh, University of Edinburgh which houses the university's School of Divinity. It is one of the largest and most renowned centres for studies in Theology and Religious studies, R ...

, but instead of joining the ministry, returned to his father's school to teach. Apart from teaching at the school, where he replaced his father as Rector, he taught mathematics in nearby

Stirling Stirling (; ; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Central Belt, central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town#Scotland, market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the roya ...

as an evening course. His father's school was rebranded as Bannockburn Academy. In 1878 he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) 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 establis ...

. His proposers were

Philip Kelland Philip Kelland PRSE FRS (17 October 1808 – 8 May 1879) was an English mathematician. He was known mainly for his great influence on the development of education in Scotland. Life Kelland was born in 1808 the son of Philip Kelland (d.1847), ...

, James Sime, Thomas Graham Balfour and

Peter Guthrie Tait Peter Guthrie Tait (28 April 18314 July 1901) was a Scottish Mathematical physics, mathematical physicist and early pioneer in thermodynamics. He is best known for the mathematical physics textbook ''Treatise on Natural Philosophy'', which he ...

. 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 1885 and served as its Treasurer from 1888 to 1895 and President in 1896. With an enduring love of the church he served on the Home Mission work in Edinburgh and was both a church elder and session clerk. In 1887 his school was taken over by the local council following the

Education (Scotland) Act 1872 The Education (Scotland) Act 1872 ( 35 & 36 Vict. c. 62) made elementary education for all children between the ages of 5 and 13 mandatory in Scotland. The Act achieved a more thorough transfer of existing schools to a public system than the E ...

. He then moved to

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, living at 27 Buccleuch Place near

George Square George Square () is the principal Town square, civic square in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is one of six squares in the city centre, the others being Cathedral Square, Glasgow, Cathedral Square, St Andrew's Square, Glasgow, St Andrew's ...

. He died on 8 December 1896, following a few days illness, at 23 Buccleuch Place in Edinburgh. He was unmarried. His obituary was written by

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, ...

Publications

*''Notes on Physics and Natural Philosophy'' *''On Parallel Motions'' (1878)

References

1847 births 1896 deaths Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Scottish mathematicians Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh {{UK-mathematician-stub