Raymond Keiller Butchart

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". ...

(1888–1930) was a short-lived Scottish mathematician. He served for two years as Professor of Mathematics at the illustrious

Raffles College The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national public research university in Singapore. It was officially established in 1980 by the merging of the University of Singapore and Nanyang University. The university offers degree program ...

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

. He lost a leg in the First World War.

Life

He was born in

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

in Scotland on 4 May 1888, the only son of Margaret and Robert K Butchart. His father was a manager in a local

jute Jute ( ) is a long, rough, shiny bast fibre that can be Spinning (textiles), spun into coarse, strong threads. It is produced from flowering plants in the genus ''Corchorus'', of the mallow family Malvaceae. The primary source of the fiber is ...

spinning mill. He attended

Morgan Academy Morgan Academy is a Secondary School, secondary school in the Stobswell area of Dundee, Scotland. Morgan Academy was founded in 1889 and is the second oldest state school in Dundee behind Harris Academy. History The building was designed in 18 ...

and the

High School of Dundee The High School of Dundee is a private, co-educational, day school in Dundee, Scotland, which provides nursery, primary and secondary education to just over one thousand pupils. Its foundation has been dated to 1239, and it is the only private sc ...

before receiving a place at the

University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...

where he received a bachelor's degree in mathematics in 1913. During this time he studied at University College, Dundee, now the

University of Dundee The University of Dundee is a public research university based in Dundee, Scotland. It was founded as a university college in 1881 with a donation from the prominent Baxter family of textile manufacturers. The institution was, for most of its ...

, which was then a college of the university in St Andrews. After graduating he worked as a student assistant in the Mathematics department of University College, Dundee until December 1914. He then gave up a position in Wilson College in

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to instead serve his country. He received a commission as a lieutenant in the 14th battalion Royal Scots on 24 December 1915. After training at Stobs in the

Scottish Borders The Scottish Borders is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It is bordered by West Lothian, Edinburgh, Midlothian, and East Lothian to the north, the North Sea to the east, Dumfries and Galloway to the south-west, South Lanarkshire to the we ...

he got a position as brigade signals officer. He left for France and Flanders in the summer of 1915. He rose to the rank of captain. He was seriously wounded and lost a leg. He was not discharged from the army until 1920. 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 ...

in February 1915 (shortly before being sent to France). His proposers included

D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson Sir D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson CB FRS FRSE (2 May 1860 – 21 June 1948) was a Scottish biologist, mathematician and classics scholar. He was a pioneer of mathematical and theoretical biology, travelled on expeditions to the Bering Strait ...

. In July 1921 the

awarded him a PhD and gave him the new title of lecturer in mathematics. From 1928 to 1930 he was professor of mathematics at

and apparently very much enjoyed the climate there. He left Singapore with his wife on 24 March 1930, for their first return trip to Scotland. He died of malaria, which materialised soon after boarding ship. He died in the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

. He was buried at sea, 65 miles south-east of

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

on the same day, 30 March 1930.

Family

He married Jean Ainslie Broome in 1921.

Publications

*''The Dissipation of Energy in Simple and Multiple Wires'' (1921)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Butchart, Raymond Keiller 1888 births 1930 deaths Academics from Dundee Scottish amputees 20th-century Scottish mathematicians British Army personnel of World War I Deaths from malaria Burials at sea People educated at Morgan Academy People educated at the High School of Dundee Alumni of the University of St Andrews Alumni of the University of Dundee Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Academic staff of the National University of Singapore Academics of the University of St Andrews British scientists with disabilities