James Thomson (mathematician)

{{short description|Irish mathematician (1786 – 1849)}} {{other people|James Thomson}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}} {{Infobox academic | honorific_prefix =  | name = James Thomson | honorific_suffix = | image = File:James Thomson b1786.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | birth_name =  | birth_date = {{birth date |df=yes|1786|11|13}} | birth_place = Ballynahinch, County Down, Ulster, Kingdom of Ireland | death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1849|01|12|1786|11|13}} | death_place = | death_cause = | region = | nationality = | citizenship = | residence = | other_names = | occupation = | period = | known_for = | home_town = | title = | boards =  | spouse = {{marriage|Margaret Gardiner|1817|1830|end=died}} | partner = | children = 7, including: <br />James Thomson <br />The 1st Baron Kelvin | parents = | relatives = | awards =  | website = | education = | alma_mater = University of Glasgow | thesis_title = | thesis_url = | thesis_year = | school_tradition = | doctoral_advisor = | academic_advisors = | influences =  | era = | discipline =  | sub_discipline =  | workplaces =  | doctoral_students =  | notable_students =  | main_interests = | notable_works = | notable_ideas = | influenced =  }} [[File:James Thomson's octant, Hunterian Museum, Glasgow.jpg|thumb|James Thomson's octant, Hunterian Museum, Glasgow]] [[File:The Thomson family grave and memorial, Glasgow Necropolis.jpg|thumb|The grave of the Thomson family, Glasgow Necropolis]] '''James Thomson''' (13 November 1786 – 12 January 1849) was a British Irish mathematician. He was the father of the engineer and physicist James Thomson and the physicist Lord Kelvin.<ref>[http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Thomson_James.html "James Thomson"] MacTutor History of Mathematics archive, University of St Andrews</ref>

==Life== Born into an Ulster-Scots family on 13 November 1786, Thomson was the fourth son of Agnes Nesbit and James Thomson, a small farmer, at Annaghmore, near Ballynahinch, County Down (the house was later called Spamount), in Ulster. His early education was from his father. At age 11 or 12 he had found out for himself the art of dialling. His father sent him to a school at Ballykine, near Ballynahinch, kept by Samuel Edgar, father of John Edgar. Thomson soon rose to be an assistant.<ref>[http://www.newulsterbiography.co.uk/index.php/home/printPerson/2070 Professor James Thomson (1786 - 1849)] Dictionary of Ulster Biography</ref>

Wishing to become a minister of the Presbyterian church, in 1810 he entered the University of Glasgow where he studied for several sessions, supporting himself by teaching in the Ballykine school during the summer. He graduated MA in 1812, and in 1814 he was appointed teacher of mathematics and arithmetic in the newly established Academical Institution, Belfast; and in 1815 he was also appointed as professor of mathematics in its collegiate department. He was an able teacher and was an author of a number of very popular textbooks.<ref>{{Cite book |last=McCartney |first=Mark |title=Beyond the Learned Academy |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2024 |editor-last=Beeley |editor-first=Philip |publication-date=2024 |chapter=James Thomson Senior and Mathematics at the Belfast Academical Institution, 1824-1832 |editor-last2=Hollings |editor-first2=Christopher D.}}</ref> In 1829 the honorary degree of LLD was conferred upon him by the University of Glasgow, where in 1832 he was appointed sixth professor of mathematics. He held this post till his death on 12 January 1849.

He is buried on the northern slopes of the Glasgow Necropolis to the east of the main bridge entrance. The grave is notable because the modern memorial to Lord Kelvin is at its side.

==Family== In 1817 Thomson married Margaret Gardiner (d.1830), eldest daughter of William Gardiner of Glasgow. They had four sons and three daughters, including James (1822–1892) and William, afterwards Lord Kelvin (1824–1907), the two elder sons. He was portrayed by John Graham-Gilbert.<ref>Illustrated Catalogue of the Exhibition of Portraits in the New Galleries of Art in Corporation Buildings</ref>

==Works== He was the author of the schoolbooks that passed through many editions: * ‘Arithmetic,’ Belfast, 1819; 72nd ed. London, 1880. * ‘Trigonometry, Plane and Spherical,’ Belfast, 1820; 4th ed. London, 1844. * ‘Introduction to Modern Geography,’ Belfast, 1827. * ‘The Phenomena of the Heavens,’ Belfast, 1827. * ‘The Differential and Integral Calculus,’ 1831; 2nd ed. London, 1848. * ‘Euclid,’ 1834. * ‘Atlas of Modern Geography.’ * ‘Algebra,’ 1844.

A paper ‘Recollections of the Battle of Ballynahinch, by an Eye-witness,’ which appeared in the ''Belfast Magazine'' for February 1825, was from his pen.

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *[http://www.universitystory.gla.ac.uk/biography/?id=WH2099&type=P James Thomson] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200207021712/https://universitystory.gla.ac.uk/biography/?id=WH2099&type=P |date=7 February 2020 }} at University of Glasgow * {{DNB|first=Thomas |last=Hamilton |wstitle=Thomson, James (1786-1849)|display=Thomson, James (1786–1849) |volume=56 |pages=254–255}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomson, James}} Category:19th-century Irish mathematicians Category:Irish Presbyterians Category:Scientists from County Down Category:Ulster Scots people Category:1849 deaths Category:1786 births Category:William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin Category:People from Ballynahinch, County Down Category:Alumni of the University of Glasgow