3.3 Letters
4.1.2 The key players
Before delving into the debate itself, it is worthwhile introducing some of the key players in it. There were two main players, the first being a very important man of the day. Edmund Taylor Whittaker
Edmund Taylor Whittaker (later Sir) was born in Lancashire in England and educated at Cambridge.1 After a spell of teaching at Cambridge and working for some time
as Royal Astronomer of Ireland in Dublin, he arrived in Edinburgh in 1912 to take up Chrystal’s chair of mathematics at Edinburgh University. He was to remain in Edinburgh for the rest of his career.
Professor Whittaker was a very influential man. W. H. McCrea wrote in his obituary of Whittaker [52]:
It may reasonably be claimed that no single individual in this century or the last had so far-reaching an influence upon its progress. If such a claim comes as a surprise to some present-day readers, it is probably because we are apt to forget the part that Whittaker played personally in bringing about so many of the developments that we now take for granted.
He certainly had a most profound influence on mathematics in Edinburgh. One of the first things he did when he arrived was to set up the Edinburgh Mathematical Laboratory, which received much attention, and inspired the first EMS Colloquium. He also gave inspiring research lectures to staff and post-graduates twice a week for the rest of his career. In these lectures, he not only presented his own research, but also gave his own take on recent developments in mathematics.
He was to have an equally profound effect on the EMS. Although he joined the Society on his arrival, in June 1912, it took two years for him to get further involved with the Society. When he did, he went straight to the top job. He was elected President in November 1914 for session 1915. He stayed on the committee for a total of 20 years, 1With the exception of the paragraph on his involvement with the EMS, the information in this section was found in
mostly as ordinary committee member, but he was also Vice-President in session 1932. On the 5th of June 1937, he was elected as Honorary Member of the Society.
Professor Whittaker’s prowess received many honours. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1905 and of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1912. The LMS awarded him the Sylvester Medal in 1931 and the Copley Medal in 1954. The RSE also gave him two awards; the Gunning Victoria Jubilee Prize in 1929 and the Bruce-Preller prize in 1931. To top it all, he was knighted in 1945.
Professor Whittaker was described as a very kind and unselfish man, with a great interest in other people. He was a devout Christian, and converted to the Roman Catholic Church in 1930. He was later to give lectures on science and religion, one resulting in his book Space and Spirit: Theories of The Universe And The Arguments For The Existence of God.
With his great interest in current research, and his continuous work to improve it, it should come as no surprise that E. T. Whittaker was to drive the Society in that same direction, at the expense of the teachers.
Thomas Murray MacRobert
The second main player, who took a strong stance for the teachers, was the Professor of Mathematics at the University of Glasgow.2 He was born in Dreghorn in Ayrshire
and educated first at the University of Glasgow and then at Cambridge. On his re- turn to Glasgow, he was employed as Professor G. A. Gibson’s assistant in 1910. He was promoted to lecturer in mathematics in 1913, and was appointed to the Chair of Mathematics in 1927 when Gibson retired.
An interesting thing about MacRobert is that his first research paper was not pub- lished until 1916, when he had been working at Glasgow for six years. He followed the opposite pattern of what most mathematicians did, by publishing text-books in his early career and leaving his most important research for later. This did not prevent him from being elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh on the 7th of March 1921.
MacRobert joined the EMS in February 1911, and was appointed ordinary committee member from session 1916. He stayed on the committee for two years only, but returned as Vice-President for session 1921, and President for the following year. After that, he 2With the exception of the paragraph on his involvement with the EMS, the information in this section was found in
CHAPTER 4: THE ROAD TO RESEARCH
Edmund Taylor Whittaker (1873-1956)
was Editor of the Proceedings for four years, before finishing as ordinary member of committee for three.
Professor MacRobert was a man of strong opinions. He was raised under strong po- litical and religious influences. His father was a minister in the Evangelical Union, later Congregational Union, a protestant church. The senior MacRobert gave strong liberal support, which rubbed off on his son. The young MacRobert considered both following his father into the Church and becoming a politician, before settling for mathematics. Rankin describes him in an obituary as a man held in high respect and affection, who was very generous in helping others [61].
Others played a part too, such as Edward Thomas Copson. He was born in England and arrived in Edinburgh to take up a lectureship in mathematics under Whittaker. He joined the Society immediately, as one did in those days. He was the secretary from 1925 to 1930 and Editor of the Proceedings in two rounds, 1931–1933 and 1926–1938. While holding these other posts, he was Vice-President in session 1929 and President two years later, in session 1931. In 1934, he was ordinary member of committee. Copson was elected an Honorary Member of the Society in 1979.
Another President who was to involve himself greatly in this discussion was Herbert Westren Turnbull, the Professor of Mathematics at the University of St Andrews. He joined the Society in January 1922, and joined the Committee as ordinary member two years later. He held the post of Editor from session 1925 to session 1934. During this time, he was also Vice-President in session 1926 and President in session 1927. He stayed on as ordinary committee member from session 1935 to session 1941. Professor Turnbull was elected an Honorary Member of the Society in 1954.
Harold Stanley Ruse also deserves a mention. He would later become Professor of Mathematics at University College in Southhampton, and then Professor of Pure Mathematics at Leeds. He arrived in Edinburgh in 1928 to study for a research degree under Whittaker, and joined the Society right away. Ruse took on the office of Secretary after Copson, in November 1930, meaning that he was unfortunate enough to hold this post when the debate reached its climax in the spring of 1931.
CHAPTER 4: THE ROAD TO RESEARCH