Robert Pollock Gillespie FRSE (1903–1977) was a Scottish mathematician. He was twice President of the Edinburgh Mathematical Society (1946–7 and 1968–9). He published several important books on mathematics.

Life

He was born on 21 November 1903 in Johnstone,

Renfrewshire Renfrewshire () ( sco, Renfrewshire; gd, Siorrachd Rinn Friù) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. Located in the west central Lowlands, it is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic county of Re ...

the son of Thomas Gillespie a butcher and his wife, Jane Pollock. He was raised at Ashcot on Kilbarchan Road in Johnstone. He was educated locally then at Paisley Grammar School where he was

dux ''Dux'' (; plural: ''ducēs'') is Latin for "leader" (from the noun ''dux, ducis'', "leader, general") and later for duke and its variant forms (doge, duce, etc.). During the Roman Republic and for the first centuries of the Roman Empire, '' ...

. He then won a bursary to study Mathematics and Natural Philosophy (Physics) at

Glasgow University , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

graduating MA BSc in 1924. He did further postgraduate studies under E. W. Hobson at

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

from 1924 to 1927 under a William Bryce Scholarship, gaining his doctorate (PhD) in 1932 due to a delay in submitting his thesis. He began lecturing in Mathematics at

Glasgow University , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

in 1929 under Prof

Thomas Murray MacRobert Thomas Murray MacRobert (4 April 1884, in Dreghorn, Ayrshire – 1 November 1962, in Glasgow) was a Scottish mathematician. He became professor of mathematics at the University of Glasgow and introduced the MacRobert E function, a generalisation ...

and alongside Dr T S Graham. In 1933 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh due to his numerous publications on mathematics. His proposers were

, Neil M'Arthur, Richard Alexander Robb and William Arthur. In the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

he served first in the

Clyde Clyde may refer to: People * Clyde (given name) * Clyde (surname) Places For townships see also Clyde Township Australia * Clyde, New South Wales * Clyde, Victoria * Clyde River, New South Wales Canada * Clyde, Alberta * Clyde, Ontario, a tow ...

River Patrol and in 1941 moved to the Air Traffic Control division of the

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

based at

Prestwick Prestwick ( gd, Preastabhaig) is a town in South Ayrshire on the west coast of Ayrshire in Scotland about southwest of Glasgow. It adjoins the larger town of Ayr to the south on the Firth of Clyde coast, the centre of which is about south, an ...

. He served on the University Air Squadron after the war. In 1948 he was promoted to Senior Lecturer at Glasgow and remained there until retiral in 1969. On retiral he moved to

Edzell Edzell (; sco, Aigle; gd, Eigill) is a village in Angus, Scotland. It is 5 miles (8 km) north of Brechin, by the River North Esk. Edzell is a Georgian era, Georgian-era planned town, with a broad main street and a grid system of side stre ...

and indulged his love as an amateur artist. He died in

on 1 January 1977.

Family

He was married to Maisie Bowman, daughter of Prof A. A. Bowman. Their son Alistair Gillespie was also a mathematician.

Publications

*''Integration'' (1939) *''Partial Differentiation'' (1951) *''Solving Problems in Advanced Calculus'' (1972)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gillespie, Robert Pollock 1903 births 1977 deaths Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Scottish mathematicians Alumni of the University of Glasgow Academics of the University of Glasgow Scottish non-fiction writers