Prof David Thomson (1817–1880) was a 19th-century Scottish physicist. He was known as Davie Thomson or later Auld Dauvit.

Life

He was born on 27 November 1817 the son of David Thomson a merchant in Leghorn in Italy. He was educated in Italy and

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

then sent to Glasgow University in 1832. In 1836 he won a place at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

where he gained a BA in 1839 (and was granted MA in 1845). From 1840 he acted as substitute Professor of Natural Philosophy (Physics) in place of

William Meikleham William Meikleham LLD (1771–1846) was Regius Professor of Astronomy at the University of Glasgow from 1799 to 1803. He resigned the Chair of Astronomy to become Professor of Natural Philosophy (Physics) in 1803, a position he held until his ...

at Glasgow University. His most notable student was William Thomson, Lord Kelvin. In 1845 he got a permanent position at

King's College, Aberdeen King's College in Old Aberdeen, Scotland, the full title of which is The University and King's College of Aberdeen (''Collegium Regium Abredonense''), is a formerly independent university founded in 1495 and now an integral part of the Universi ...

. In 1854 he became Sub-Principal of the college. When King's and

Marischal College Marischal College ( ) is a large granite building on Broad Street in the centre of Aberdeen in north-east Scotland, and since 2011 has acted as the headquarters of Aberdeen City Council. However, the building was constructed for and is on long- ...

merged in 1860 to create the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen ( sco, University o' 'Aiberdeen; abbreviated as ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; gd, Oilthigh Obar Dheathain) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Sc ...

he remained as Professor but was no longer Sub Principal. His students included George Slessor and George Pirie. In 1863 he and a very young David Gill (then a young student) restored the university clock and also set up a fine telescope in the Cromwell Tower Observatory. It was Thomson who introduced Gill to astronomy. He died in his lodgings at Kings College on 31 January 1880. He is buried in the churchyard of

St Machar's Cathedral St Machar's Cathedral usually called Old Machar (Scottish Gaelic: Cathair-eaglais Naomh Machar), (or, more formally, the Cathedral Church of St Machar) is a Church of Scotland church in Aberdeen, Scotland. It is located to the north of the c ...

. The grave lies east of the church.

Publications

*Acoustics - article in 9th edition of

Encyclopedia Britannica An encyclopedia (American English) or encyclopædia (British English) is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge either general or special to a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into articles ...

. *Caledonia Romana (1852)

Artistic recognition

A marble bust of Thomson by John Hutchison RSA is held by Aberdeen University.

Family

He was outlived by his wife, one son and three daughters. At least five of his children died in infancy.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomson, David 1817 births 1880 deaths People from Livorno Alumni of the University of Cambridge Academics of the University of Aberdeen Scottish physicists