Joseph David Everett
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Prof Joseph David Everett DCL, FRS,
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". ...
(1831–1904) was an English physicist, professor of natural philosophy at
Queen's College, Belfast The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The university received its charter in 1845 as part of ...
.


Life

Born at Rushmere, near
Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...
,
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, on 11 September 1831, he was the eldest son of Joseph David Everett, a landowner and farmer of Rushmere, by his wife Elizabeth, eldest daughter of John Garwood, a corn merchant in London;
Robert Lacey Everett Robert Lacey Everett (28 January 1833 – 21 October 1916) was an English farmer and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons three times between 1885 and 1910. Life Everett ...
was a brother. He was educated at Mr. Buck's private school at Ipswich. On leaving school he attended classes in mathematics at the Ipswich Mechanics' Institution under Stephen Jackson, proprietor of the ''Ipswich Journal'', who advised him to teach. After a short experience of teaching at a private school at Newmarket, where he had
Charles Haddon Spurgeon Charles Haddon Spurgeon (19 June 1834 – 31st January 1892) was an English Particular Baptist preacher. Spurgeon remains highly influential among Christians of various denominations, to some of whom he is known as the "Prince of Preachers." ...
as a colleague, Everett became, in 1850, mathematical master at John Charles Thorowgood's school at
Totteridge Totteridge is a residential area and former village in the London Borough of Barnet, England. It is a mixture of suburban development and open land (including some farmland) situated 8 miles (13 km) north north-west of Charing Cross. It ...
. In 1854 he gained one of Dr. Williams's bursaries and became a student at Glasgow College; he graduated B.A. in 1856 with honourable distinction in classics and mental philosophy, and M.A. in 1857 with distinction in physical science. He had thought of entering the ministry, but gave up the idea, and after acting for a short time as secretary of the Meteorological Society of Edinburgh, he became professor of mathematics in King's College, Windsor,
Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...
, in 1859. Through his efforts, an astronomical observatory was built at the College in 1861. Everett returned to Glasgow in 1864 as assistant to Hugh Blackburn, professor of mathematics in the university (1849–79), and worked for a time in
Lord Kelvin William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin (26 June 182417 December 1907), was a British mathematician, Mathematical physics, mathematical physicist and engineer. Born in Belfast, he was the Professor of Natural Philosophy (Glasgow), professor of Natur ...
's laboratory. From 1867 till his retirement in 1897 he was professor of natural philosophy at Queen's College, Belfast, serving on the council from 1875 to 1881. Everett was elected 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 ...
in 1863, and fellow of the
Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
of London in 1879; and was a vice-president of the
Physical Society of London The Physical Society of London, England, was a scientific society which was founded in 1874. In 1921, it was renamed the Physical Society, and in 1960 it merged with the Institute of Physics (IOP), the combined organisation eventually adopting the ...
(1900–4). He acted as secretary and subsequently as chairman of the committee of 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 ...
for investigating the rate of increase of underground temperature downwards (1867–1904), and as secretary of the committee for the selection and nomenclature of dynamical units (1871–3). He was also a fellow of the
Royal University of Ireland The Royal University of Ireland was a university in Ireland that existed from 1879 to 1909. It was founded in accordance with the University Education (Ireland) Act 1879 as an examining and degree-awarding university based on the model of the ...
. He moved from Belfast to London in 1898 and eventually settled at
Ealing Ealing () is a district in west London (sub-region), west London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. It is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Pl ...
, regularly attending meetings of scientific societies in London. He died from heart failure in
Ealing Ealing () is a district in west London (sub-region), west London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. It is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Pl ...
on 9 August 1904, and was interred at Ipswich.


Works

Everett wrote memoirs on dynamics, light, and sound, mostly expository. His main publications were: * ''Units and Physical Constants' (later ''The C.G.S. System of Units''), 1875
2nd ed. 1879
3rd ed. 1886; Polish transl., Warsaw, 1885. * ''An Elementary Text Book of Physics'', 1877; 2nd edit. 1883. * ''Vibratory Motion and Sound'', 1882. * ''Outlines of Natural Philosophy'', 1887. He translated from Augustin Privat-Deschanel ''Elementary Treatise on Natural Philosophy: Physics'' (1870, largely rewritten; 6th edit. 1882) and, with his daughter
Alice Everett Alice Everett (15 May 1865 – 21 July 1949) was a British astronomer and engineer who grew up in Belfast. Everett is best known for being the first woman to be paid for astronomical work at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, when she began her ...
, Heinrich Hovestadt's ''Jena Glass and its Scientific and Industrial Applications'' (1902). Everett invented a system of shorthand which he published (1877 and 1883); and, a pioneer cyclist, invented a spring hub attachment for the spokes of bicycle wheels. He also introduced the so-called "gridiron"
slide rule A slide rule is a hand-operated mechanical calculator consisting of slidable rulers for conducting mathematical operations such as multiplication, division, exponents, roots, logarithms, and trigonometry. It is one of the simplest analog ...
, in 1866.


Family

Everett married on 3 September 1862 Jessie, daughter of Alexander Fraser, later of Ewing Place Congregational Church, Glasgow (of the Frasers of Kirkhill, Inverness), and left three daughters and three sons. The eldest was daughter
Alice Everett Alice Everett (15 May 1865 – 21 July 1949) was a British astronomer and engineer who grew up in Belfast. Everett is best known for being the first woman to be paid for astronomical work at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, when she began her ...
(1865-1949), pioneering astronomer and engineer. The second son, Wilfred, became professor of engineering in the Government Engineering College, Shibpur, Calcutta.


Notes

Attribution


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Everett, Joseph David 1831 births 1904 deaths English physicists Fellows of the Royal Society English science writers English male non-fiction writers