Person: Purser, John
John Purser was an Irish mathematician who taught at Queen's College Belfast.
Mathematical Profile (Excerpt):
- Tertius Purser was born on 25 May 1809, in Ransford Street, Dublin, Ireland.
- This church, which originated in Moravia in the fifteenth century, had an Irish branch founded by John Cennick in Dublin in 1746.
- Tertius Purser made good money working for the Guinness brewery and in June 1834, around the time of his marriage, he purchased Rathmines Castle on Upper Rathmines Road in Dublin.
- John Purser Griffith studied engineering at Trinity College Dublin and had an outstanding career in civil engineering which led to his knighthood.
- Purser completed his schooling at Devizes and began his university studies when he entered Trinity College, Dublin.
- On leaving college Purser's first appointment was that of tutor to the sons of Lord Rosse at Parsonstown.
- Purser became a tutor to the four sons of William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse (1800-1867) in 1857.
- If ever there was an artist in mathematics John Purser was one.
- A student of Purser's, many years later wrote an article in The Northman in 1945.
- In addition to these three, Purser also taught John Henry MacFarland who became Chancellor of Melbourne University.
- It was suggested to Purser that he should write a paper for the occasion.
- This was, to quote from the title of Purser's short paper, "The Source from which the Kinetic Energy is Drawn that Passes into Heat in the Movement of the Tides." He showed conclusively that the earth's rotation is the source in question, and so made a beginning in a subject afterwards worked out by Sir George Darwin.
- When the British Association next came here in 1902 Purser was elected President of Section A.
Born 24 August 1835, Dublin, Ireland. Died 18 October 1903, Dublin, Ireland.
View full biography at MacTutor
Tags relevant for this person:
Astronomy, Origin Ireland
Thank you to the contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0! 
- Github:
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- non-Github:
- @J-J-O'Connor
- @E-F-Robertson
References
Adapted from other CC BY-SA 4.0 Sources:
- O’Connor, John J; Robertson, Edmund F: MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive
