James Ireland Craig (1868–1952) was a Scottish mathematician, meteorologist and creator of the Craig retroazimuthal projection.

Life

He was born on 24 February 1868 in Buckhaven the son of Captain T M Craig, a pioneer in the development of

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and ea ...

, and his wife Agnes. He was educated at Daniel Stewart's College in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

, where he was school dux for 1885. He then attended

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted ...

and then Emmanuel College, Cambridge, graduating MA in 1892. In 1893 he became a Master, teaching mathematics at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...

then at

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of ...

from 1895. In 1896 he moved to Egypt to work for the Egyptian government. In 1908 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh for his contributions to cartography. His proposers were

George Chrystal George Chrystal FRSE FRS (8 March 1851 – 3 November 1911) was a Scottish mathematician. He is primarily know for his books on algebra and his studies of seiches (wave patterns in large inland bodies of water) which earned him a Gold Meda ...

, William J MacDonald, John Alison and

John Brown Clark John Brown Clark or Clarke CBE LLD FRSE (30 April 1861 – 19 July 1947) was a Scottish mathematician. He was headmaster of George Heriot’s School from 1908 to 1926. He served as Vice President of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1931–34. Li ...

. He created, in 1909, the Craig retroazimuthal projection that preserves true directions on a map to a specified location, such as

Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow ...

, which it why it is often called the Mecca projection. He returned to Britain during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and was based in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

at the Ministry of Food. In the aftermath of the war he was creator Food Controller 1918-20 for

Upper Silesia Upper Silesia ( pl, Górny Śląsk; szl, Gůrny Ślůnsk, Gōrny Ślōnsk; cs, Horní Slezsko; german: Oberschlesien; Silesian German: ; la, Silesia Superior) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, locate ...

(now SW

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

). In 1925 he returned to Egypt as Controller General, then, from 1928 to 1934, was Financial Secretary to the Egyptian Census. In 1934 (aged already 66) he was made UK Government Commissioner of Customs. He finally retired from employment in 1947, aged 79. He still spent much of his time in Egypt. In 1942 he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for his services in Egypt. He was killed aged 83 in a deliberate fire at the Turf Club in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...

, set by rioters on 26 January 1952 during the Cairo Fire.Nancy Y. Reynolds, ''A City Consumed: Urban Commerce, the Cairo Fire, and the Politics of Decolonization in Egypt'' (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2012), pp. 189-190.

Family

In 1897, he married Isabella Wilson, who died in 1948.

Publications

*''The Rains of the Nile Basin and Nile Floods of 1909'' (1910) *''General Theory of Map Projections'' (1910) *''Anthropometry of Modern Egyptians'' (1911) *''Some General Principles of Surveying'' (1911) *''Egyptian Irrigation'' (1913) *''Elements of Analytical Geometry'' (1930) (published in both English and Arabic)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Craig, James Ireland 1868 births 1952 deaths People educated at Stewart's Melville College Scottish mathematicians Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Deaths from fire British people murdered abroad 1952 murders in Egypt People murdered in Egypt