Peter Guthrie Tait (April 28, 1831 - July 4, 1901)was a Scottish mathematical physicist, best known for the seminal energy physics textbook Treatise on Natural Philosophy, which he co-wrote with Kelvin.The first scientific paper that appears under Tait's name only was published in 1860. His earliest work dealt mainly with mathematical subjects, and especially with quaternions, of which he may be regarded as the leading exponent after their originator, Hamilton. He was the author of two text-books on them--one an Elementary Treatise on Quaternions (1867), written with the advice of Hamilton, though not published till after his death, and the other an Introduction to Quaternions (1873), in which he was aided by Philip Kelland (1808-1879), who had been one of his teachers at Edinburgh. In addition, quaternions was one of the themes of his address as president of the mathematical section of the British Association for the Advancement of Science in 1871. Tait collaborated with Balfour Stewart in the Unseen Universe, which was followed by Paradoxical Philosophy. Among his articles may be mentioned those which he wrote for the ninth edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica on Light, Mechanics, Quaternions, Radiation and Thermodynamics, besides the biographical notices of Hamilton and Clerk Maxwell. Books by Tait include: Dynamics of a Particle (1865), Natural Philosophy (1867), Quarternions (1867), Thermodynamics (1868), Recent Advances in Physical Science (1876), Heat (1884), Light (1884), Properties of Matter (1885), Dynamics (1895), The Unseen Universe (1875; new edition, 1901). Philip Kelland (1808 -- 7 May 1879)was appointed Professor of Mathematics at Edinburgh University in succession to William Wallace. He was the first English-born and wholly English-educated holder of that chair.His early research work, undertaken at Cambridge, was influenced by Fourier and Cauchy. He wrote analytical papers on General Differentiation (1839), and Differential Equations (1853), and gave a geometrical Theory of Parallels outlining a version of non-Euclidean geometry. Kelland produced a revised edition of John Playfair's Elements of Geometry and a successful textbook of Algebra. Late in life, he collaborated with Peter Guthrie Tait on an Introduction to Quaternions. Kelland had a great influence on the development of education in Scotland, and he attained a high standard of mathematical instruction. Books by Kelland include: Elements of algebra (1839), Lectures on the principles of demonstrative mathematics (1843), Transatlantic sketches (1858). Works |