Scientific American Supplement, No. 388, June 9, 1883 by Various
page 71 of 156 (45%)
page 71 of 156 (45%)
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New World.
In 1845 he took a first class in mathematics, and he afterward won the junior (1846) and the senior (1847) university mathematical scholarships. He returned to Oxford for a term or two, and gave a course of lectures in Balliol College on Geometry of Three Dimensions--a favorite subject of his. He was examiner in the mathematical schools in 1857-58. On leaving Oxford, he immediately, we believe, took an active part in the working management of the business of the Queen's printers, about this time resigned to him by his father, Andrew Spottiswoode, brother of the Laird of Spottiswoode. The business has largely developed under his hands. Other subjects than mathematics have occupied his attention: at an early age he studied languages, as well Oriental as European. [Illustration: WILLIAM SPOTTISWOODE.] As treasurer and president, he has been continuously on the Council of the Royal Society for a great many years, and through his exceptional gifts as an administrator he has rendered it invaluable services. He has rendered similar services to the British Association, to the London Mathematical Society, and to the Royal Institution. We have permission to make the following extract from a letter written by a friend of many years' standing: "In the councils (of the various societies) he has always been distinguished by his sound judgment and his deep sympathy with their purest and highest aims. There never was a trace of partisanship in his action, or of narrowness in his sympathies. On the contrary, every one engaged in thoroughly scientific work has felt that he had a warm supporter in Spottiswoode, |
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