Famous Scottish Mathematicians

Scottish physicist James Maxwell’s contributions included the formulation of the classical theory of electromagnetic radiation and the production of the first light-fast color photograph. His Maxwell–Boltzmann distribution explored the kinetic theory of gases. He has also written poems and was an Elder of the Church of Scotland.

John Napier was a Scottish mathematician, astronomer, and physicist. He is credited with introducing logarithms as a means of simplifying calculations. He also invented Napier's bones, a manually-operated calculating device. In addition to his interest in mathematics, John Napier was also known for his skills as a magician; it is said that he dabbled in necromancy and alchemy.

One of the two pioneering female honorary members of the Royal Astronomical Society, Mary Somerville was a 19th-century polymath and science writer. Though she specialized in math and astronomy, she was also well-versed in botany and geology. The Connection of the Physical Sciences remains her most notable work.

Alastair Denniston was a Scottish code breaker and hockey player. He was deputy head of the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) from 1919 to 1942. As a member of the Scottish Olympic hockey team in 1908, he won a bronze medal. He worked as a code breaker during the war years. He taught French and Latin following his retirement. 

David Brewster was a British scientist, inventor, and author. He conducted many experiments in physical optics, especially concerned with the study of the polarization of light. Fellow scientist William Whewell dubbed him the "father of modern experimental optics." He was also a pioneer in photography and invented an improved stereoscope. He wrote numerous works of popular science as well. 

James Gregory was a Scottish astronomer and mathematician. A celebrated mathematician, Gregory served as a professor of mathematics in several institutions like the University of Edinburgh and the University of St Andrews. He is also remembered for publishing several books, including Optica Promota, which describes Gregory's design for a reflecting telescope which came to be known as the Gregorian telescope.

Colin Maclaurin was a Scottish mathematician best remembered for his contributions to algebra and geometry. A child prodigy, Maclaurin became one of the youngest professors in history when he became a professor of mathematics at the age of 19. Colin Maclaurin also contributed immensely to the study of elliptic integrals and is credited with discovering the Euler–Maclaurin formula.

Michael Scot was a Scottish scholar and mathematician. Widely regarded as the greatest intellectual of the Middle Ages, Scot served as a court astrologer and science adviser to Emperor Frederick II. Michael Scot's life and work have inspired several literary works, including the 2019 novel A Matter of Interpretation by Elizabeth Mac Donald.

D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson was a Scottish mathematician, biologist, and classics scholar. A pioneer of mathematical biology, Thompson is best remembered for writing a book titled On Growth and Form, which is widely admired by architects, anthropologists, and biologists among others. Over the course of his illustrious career, D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson received several prestigious awards like the Daniel Giraud Elliot Medal.

James Ivory was a British mathematician and astronomer best remembered for developing Ivory's Theorem. In 1814, he was honored with the prestigious Copley Medal for publishing several important memoirs.

Born to a Scottish factor, mathematician Eric Temple Bell spent most of his life in the U.S. The Stanford alumnus contributed to the analytic number theory and also taught math at institutes such as Caltech. He also penned sci-fi novels such as The Time Stream as John Taine.

Sir William Hodge was a British mathematician best remembered for his expertise in geometry. His discovery of topological relations between differential geometry and algebraic geometry, which is now referred to as Hodge theory, has had a significant impact on subsequent work in geometry. Sir William Hodge also served as a teacher at several prestigious institutions like the University of Bristol.

Dugald Stewart was a Scottish mathematician and philosopher best remembered for his efforts to popularize the works of Adam Smith and Francis Hutcheson. Considered one of the most prominent personalities of the Scottish Enlightenment, Stewart played a major role in explaining the Scottish Common Sense Realism. Among his students were Sir Walter Scott, Sir Archibald Alison, and Sir James Mackintosh. 

Udny Yule was an English statistician best remembered for discovering the Yule distribution, a discrete probability distribution. A prolific writer, Yule wrote several books, including Introduction to the Theory of Statistics which has been used as a textbook. Yule is also remembered for his association with the Royal Statistical Society, where he served as the president from 1924 to 1926.

Sir John Leslie, 4th Baronet, was a Scottish physicist and mathematician remembered for conducting research into heat. In 1802, he became the first person to give the first modern account of capillary action. In 1810, Leslie froze water using an air-pump, becoming the first person to produce ice artificially. He is also known for developing a device called Leslie cube.

Peter Tait was a Scottish mathematical physicist best remembered for co-authoring Treatise on Natural Philosophy, a mathematical physics textbook. Tait is also known for his work on knot theory, which helped establish topology as a mathematical discipline. He is also credited with developing the Tait–Kneser theorem. An early pioneer in thermodynamics, Tait also produced original work in experimental physics.

John Keill was a Scottish natural philosopher, mathematician, and cryptographer. He is best remembered for his work Examination of Dr. Burnet's Theory of the Earth, which earned him fame in the English academic community. In 1711, John Keill started serving as a decipherer under Anne, Queen of Great Britain and was instrumental in explaining several old manuscripts to the sovereign.

Scottish astronomer Thomas Henderson was the first to measure the parallax of the Alpha Centauri. He was also named the first Astronomer Royal of Scotland. Though initially trained as a lawyer, he later focused on his love for math and astronomy. He also taught at the University of Edinburgh.

Apart from being a renowned astronomer, Alexander Wilson was also a qualified surgeon and once co-owned a type-founding business, too. He pioneered the use of kites in meteorological research and also co-founded the Royal Society of Edinburgh. He has a lunar crater named after him.

The son of a carpenter, James Short was orphaned at 10 but later excelled in studied and became a renowned optician. He then focused on making telescopes and became the first to create parabolic mirrors which produced images without distortions in reflecting telescopes. He was later named a Fellow of The Royal Society.