Alexander G. Burgess

Alexander G. Burgess FRSE FEIS (24 December 1872 – 29 March 1932) was a Scottish mathematician. He served as President of the Edinburgh Mathematical Society. He is noted for his work on Tripolar Co-ordinates.

Alexander George Burgess
Born(1872-12-24)December 24, 1872
Wishaw, Lanarkshire, Scotland
Died29 March 1932(1932-03-29) (aged 59)
Rothesay, Bute, Scotland
Alma materUniversity of Edinburgh
Known forTripolar Co-ordinates
AwardsFRSE (1902)
Scientific career
InstitutionsRothesay Academy, Bute

Biography

He was born in Wishaw, Lanarkshire in southern Scotland in 1872.

He attended Wishaw Academy and then George Watson's College in Edinburgh. In 1890 he won a bursary allowing him to study mathematics and natural philosophy at the University of Edinburgh receiving an MA degree in 1894. He studied under Professor George Chrystal.[1]

He became a teacher at Merchiston Castle School. From there he moved to Rothesay Academy and Edinburgh Ladies' College before returning to Rothesay as Rector of Rothesay Academy and the Thomson Institute in 1917.[2][3]

He died on 29 March 1932.

Contributions and service

In 1900 he became a member of the Edinburgh Mathematical Society, presenting at least 13 papers to the body over his membership. He served as its Secretary 1908–11, Vice-President 1911–12 and President 1912–13. During this period he organised the first Mathematical Colloquium in the city.

Recognition

In 1902 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

The University of Edinburgh awarded him an honorary Doctorate (DSc) in 1924, specifically for his thesis on Tripolar Co-ordinates.[4][5]

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References
  1. Comrie, Peter (1933). "Alexander G. Burgess, M.A., D.SC, F.R.S.E." Proceedings of the Edinburgh Mathematical Society. Cambridge University Press. 3 (4): 300–300. doi:10.1017/s0013091500027395. ISSN 0013-0915.
  2. "Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh : 1783–2002" (PDF). Royal Society. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 September 2015. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  3. "Bute County Directory for 1919, Page 55 | Document Viewer". Mocavo.com. 2 August 2014. Archived from the original on 19 June 2015. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  4. "EMS obituary". MacTutor Archive. November 2007. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  5. Burgess, A. G. (1924). "I. Tripolar coordinates (straight line and circle); II. Concurrency of lines joining vertices of a triangle to opposite vertices of triangles on its sides ; [III]. Determinants connected with the periodic solutions of Mathieu's equation". Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
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