James Thomson Senior and Mathematics at the Belfast Academical Institution, 1814–1832

Abstract

Abstract James Thomson Snr (1786–1849) is perhaps best known as the father of one of the most significant natural philosophers of the nineteen century; Lord Kelvin. Thomson was, however, an important mathematician and mathematical educator in his own right. In Belfast he taught both school and college level mathematics at the Belfast Academical Institution and wrote a number of successful textbooks on arithmetic, calculus, trigonometry, and geography. This chapter focuses on Thomson’s life and work in Belfast over the period 1814–1832, surveying the texts he wrote while there, and giving examples of the standard of mathematical teaching and examining in Belfast at the time.