Robert McNair Ferguson
Born: 8 July 1829 in Airdrie, Lanarkshire, Scotland; Died: 31 December 1912 in Edinburgh, Scotland
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The basics
Quick Facts
| Intro | Born: 8 July 1829 in Airdrie, Lanarkshire, Scotland; Died: 31 December 1912 in Edinburgh, Scotland | |
| A.K.A. | Robert Ferguson | |
| A.K.A. | Robert Ferguson | |
| Places | Scotland | |
| was | Mathematician | |
| Work field | Mathematics | |
| Gender |
| |
| Birth | 8 July 1829, Airdrie | |
| Death | 31 December 1912Edinburgh (aged 83 years) |
The details
Biography
Robert McNair Ferguson (1829–1912) was a Scottish mathematician, one of the founders of the Edinburgh Mathematical Society.
Life and work
12 Moray Place, Edinburgh
The grave of Robert McNair Ferguson, Grange Cemetery, Edinburgh
He was born on 8 July 1829, the son of John Ferguson, a pawnbroker, and his wife, Elisabeth Cochran.
He was educated at the Free Church Training College (Edinburgh). He studied natural philosophy in the university of Edinburgh and, after, in the university of Heidelberg where he was awarded with a PhD in 1855 tutored by Robert Bunsen. From 1858 till his retirement in 1898 he was headmaster in the Edinburgh Institute (now known as Stewart's Melville College), where he taught among others William Cunningham. He lost a leg in a school laboratory explosion in 1897.
He was founding member of the Edinburgh Mathematical Society in 1883 and was elected his president in 1885–1886.
In later life he lived at 12 Moray Place, a substantial Georgian townhouse on the fashionable Moray Estate in Edinburgh's West End.
He died on 31 December 1912. He is buried in the south-east section of Grange Cemetery in south Edinburgh.
Family
He was married to Margaret Monteith (1814-1892).