Leslie

John Leslie

Born: 16 April 1766 in Largo, Fife, Scotland
Died: 3 Nov 1832 in Coates (near Largo), Fife, Scotland

Previous (Chronologically) Next     Biographies Index

Previous ( Alphabetically) Next          Welcome page
John Leslie studied at St Andrews and Edinburgh, then became tutor to the Wedgwood family (1790-1804). Appointed as professor of mathematics at Edinburgh in 1805 (after a bitter dispute, since he was not ordained by the Church), Leslie became professor in Natural Philosophy in 1819. He was elected a Corresponding Member of the French Academy of Sciences in 1820 and was knighted in 1832.

He published 10 books and several journal and encyclopaedia articles. His mathematical works include texts on geometry, trigonometry and The Philosophy of Arithmetic , but he is best known for his physical researches on heat.

References:

  1. Dictionary of Scientific Biography
  2. Biography in Encyclopaedia Britannica
  3. Obituary of Sir John Leslie, Leybourn's Mathematical Repository 1 (1803-06), 77-78.
  4. McVey Napier, Obituary of Sir John Leslie, Encyclopaedia Britannica (7th ed.) 1842.
  5. Sir John Leslie : 1766-1832, A study of the Pursuit of the Exact Sciences in the Scottish Enlightenment (Harvard, 1967).
Previous (Chronologically) Next     Biographies Index

Previous ( Alphabetically) Next          Welcome page

History Topics Index              Famous curves index

Chronologies                           Birthplace Map

Mathematicians of the day  Anniversaries for the year

Search Form   Simple Search Form   Search Suggestions
JOC/EFR February 1996