- John Pringle Nichol
John Pringle Nichol FRSE (
13 January 1804 –19 September 1859 ) was a Scottisheducator ,astronomer andeconomist who did much to populariseastronomy in a manner that appealed to nineteenth century tastes.Early life
Born Huntly-Hill, near
Brechin ,Angus , he was the son of agentleman farmer and was educated at the localgrammar school and then at King's College,University of Aberdeen . He was licensed apreacher and soon proved an effective communicator but a change in his theological views led him to abandon theChurch foreducation .MacLehose (1886)]He held a number of posts in education and
journalism and corresponded with many leading thinkers of the times, includingJohn Stuart Mill . He clearly made some impression ineconomics asJames Mill andNassau Senior nominated him asJean-Baptiste Say 's successor as professor ofpolitical economy at theCollege de France though he was at the time too ill to take the post.Astronomy
In 1836 and in competition with
Thomas Carlyle , Nichol was appointed regius professor of astronomy at theUniversity of Glasgow . He became an enthusiastic and effective lecturer and made a profound impression on the youngWilliam Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin with his introduction of the "Continental" approach tomathematical physics ofJean Baptiste Joseph Fourier .Nichol turned to popular lecturing and authored a number of popular and successful books about astronomy, especially championing the
nebular hypothesis . [Schaffer (1989)] In 1841George Eliot wrote:William John Macquorn Rankine declared Nichol's "Dictionary of the Physical Sciences" to be:Private life
In 1831 he married Jane Tullis who died in 1850. Their eldest son,
John Nichol became aliterary critic andwriter . Nichol married Elizabeth Pease in 1853, a prominent reformer and member of the Darlington Pease family, much against her family's wishes.During the late 1840s, his health declined and, stemming from his
physician 'sprescription , Nichol became addicted toopiates . He recorded an account of his drug-addiction illness and its cure byhydrotherapy at theBen Rhydding Hydro in his book "Memorials from Ben Rhydding" (1852). [Nichol (1852)]He died in Rothesay on 19 September 1859. His wealth at death was £1935.Burnett (2004)]
References
Bibliography
By Nichol
*Nichol, J.P. (1837) "Views of the Architecture of the Heavens ", Edinburgh: William Tait
*— (1838) "The Phenomena and Order of the Solar System", Edinburgh: William Tait
*— (1844) "Contemplations on the Solar System", Edinburgh: William Tait
* cite book | author=— | origyear=1846 | year=2006 | title=Thoughts on Some Important Points Relating to the System of the World | id=ISBN 1428651713 | publisher=Kessinger
*— (1847) "The Stellar Universe"
* cite book | author=— | year=1852 | title=Memorials from Ben Rhydding Concerning the Place, its People, its Cures | url=http://books.google.com/books?id=n7wHAAAAQAAJ | location=London | publisher=Charles Gilpin (fromGoogle Books )
*— (1855)"The Planet Neptune: An Exposition and History", Edinburgh: James Nichol
*— "Cyclopedia of the Physical Sciences"
*— "General Principles in Geology", the preface to Keith Johnston's "Physical Atlas"Obituaries
*"Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society", 19 (1858–9), 141; 20 (1859–60), 131;
*"The Times ", 23 September 1859, 10bAbout Nichol
*Burnett, J. (2004) " [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/20084 Nichol, John Pringle (1804–1859)] ", "
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography ", Oxford University Press, accessed 11 September 2007 ODNBsub
* cite book | author=Coutts, J. | title=A History of the University of Glasgow | year=1909
*MacLehose, J. (1886) " [http://gdl.cdlr.strath.ac.uk/100men/gm71.htm 71. John Pringle Nichol 1804-1859] ", in "Memoirs and Portraits of One Hundred Glasgow Men Who Have Died During the Last Thirty Years", vol.2, Glasgow: James MacLehose & Sons, "pp"249-252
*Schaffer, S. {1989) "The nebular hypothesis and the science of progress", in "History, Humanity and Evolution", ed. J. R. Moore, 131–54
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