Peter Guthrie Tait | |
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 Photograph of Tait in 1870,with signature | |
| Born | (1831-04-28)28 April 1831 Dalkeith, Scotland |
| Died | 4 July 1901(1901-07-04) (aged 70) Edinburgh, Scotland |
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| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Mathematical physics |
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| Academic advisors | William Hopkins |
Peter Guthrie TaitFRSE (28 April 1831 – 4 July 1901) was a Scottishmathematical physicist and early pioneer inthermodynamics. He is best known for the mathematical physics textbookTreatise on Natural Philosophy, which he co-wrote withLord Kelvin, and his early investigations intoknot theory.
His work on knot theory contributed to the eventual formation oftopology as a mathematical discipline. His name is known ingraph theory mainly forTait's conjecture on cubic graphs. He is also one of the namesakes of theTait–Kneser theorem onosculating circles.
Tait was born inDalkeith on 28 April 1831 the only son of Mary Ronaldson and John Tait, secretary to the5th Duke of Buccleuch.[1]
He was educated at Dalkeith Grammar School thenEdinburgh Academy, where he began his lifelong friendship withJames Clerk Maxwell. He studied mathematics and physics at theUniversity of Edinburgh, and then went toPeterhouse, Cambridge, graduating assenior wrangler and firstSmith's prizeman in 1852.[2]
As a fellow and lecturer of his college he remained at the university for a further two years, before leaving to take up the professorship of mathematics atQueen's College, Belfast; there he made the acquaintance ofThomas Andrews, whom he joined in researches on the density ofozone and the action of the electric discharge onoxygen and other gases.[3] Andrews also introduced him to SirWilliam Rowan Hamilton andquaternions.[citation needed]
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In 1860, Tait succeeded his old master,James D. Forbes, as professor ofnatural philosophy at the University of Edinburgh.[4] He occupied the chair until shortly before his death. The first scientific paper under Tait's name only was published in 1860. His earliest work dealt mainly with mathematical subjects, and especially withquaternions, of which he was the leading exponent after their originator,William Rowan Hamilton. He was the author of two text-books on them - one anElementary Treatise on Quaternions (1867), written with the advice of Hamilton, though not published till after his death, and the other anIntroduction to Quaternions (1873), in which he was aided byPhilip Kelland (1808–1879).[5] Kelland was one of his teachers and colleagues at the University of Edinburgh.[6] Quaternions was also one of the themes of his address as president of the mathematical and physical section of theBritish Association for the Advancement of Science in 1871. Tait also collaborated withLord Kelvin onTreatise on Natural Philosophy in 1867.[5]
Tait also produced original work in mathematical and experimental physics. In 1864, he published a short paper onthermodynamics, and from that time his contributions to that and kindred departments of science became frequent and important. In 1871, he emphasised the significance and future importance of theprinciple of the dissipation of energy (second law of thermodynamics). In 1873 he tookthermoelectricity for the subject of his discourse asRede lecturer atCambridge, and in the same year he presented the first sketch of his well-known thermoelectric diagram before theRoyal Society of Edinburgh.
Two years later, researches on "Charcoal Vacua" withJames Dewar led him to see the true dynamical explanation of theCrookes radiometer in the largemean free path of themolecule of the highly rarefied air. From 1879 to 1888, he engaged in difficult experimental investigations. These began with an inquiry into what corrections were required for thermometers operating at great pressure. This was for the benefit of thermometers employed by theChallenger expedition for observing deep-sea temperatures, and were extended to include thecompressibility of water, glass, andmercury.[7] This work led to the first formulation of theTait equation, which is widely used to fit liquid density to pressure. Between 1886 and 1892 he published a series of papers on the foundations of thekinetic theory of gases, the fourth of which contained what was, according toLord Kelvin, the first proof ever given of theWaterston-Maxwelltheorem (equipartition theorem) of the average equal partition of energy in a mixture of two gases./[8] About the same time he carried out investigations into impact and its duration.
Many other inquiries conducted by him might be mentioned, and some idea may be gained of his scientific activity from the fact that a selection only from his papers, published by theCambridge University Press, fills three large volumes. This mass of work was done in the time he could spare from his professorial teaching in the university. For example, in 1880 he worked on theFour color theorem and proved that it was true if and only if nosnarks were planar.
In addition, he was the author of a number of books and articles. Of the former, the first, published in 1856, was on the dynamics of a particle; and afterwards there followed a number of concise treatises onthermodynamics, heat, light, properties of matter and dynamics, together with an admirably lucid volume of popular lectures on Recent Advances in Physical Science.
With Lord Kelvin, he collaborated in writing the well-knownTreatise on Natural Philosophy. "Thomson and Tait", as it is familiarly called (" T and T' " was the authors' own formula), was planned soon after Lord Kelvin became acquainted with Tait, on the latter's appointment to his professorship in Edinburgh, and it was intended to be an all-comprehensive treatise on physical science, the foundations being laid inkinematics anddynamics, and the structure completed with the properties ofmatter, heat, light, electricity andmagnetism. But the literary partnership ceased in about eighteen years, when only the first portion of the plan had been completed, because each of the members felt he could work to better advantage separately than jointly. The friendship, however, endured for the remaining twenty-three years of Tait's life.
Tait collaborated withBalfour Stewart in theUnseen Universe, which was followed byParadoxical Philosophy. It was in his 1875 review ofThe Unseen Universe, that William James first put forth hisWill to Believe Doctrine. Tait's articles include those he wrote for the ninth edition of theEncyclopædia Britannica on light, mechanics, quaternions, radiation, and thermodynamics, and the biographical notices of Hamilton and James Clerk Maxwell.
He died in Edinburgh on 4 July 1901, aged 70. He is buried in the second terrace down fromPrinces Street in the burial ground ofSt John's Episcopal Church, Edinburgh.[9]
TheTait conjectures are threeconjectures made by Tait in his study of knots. The Tait conjectures involve concepts inknot theory such asalternating knots,chirality, andwrithe. All of the Tait conjectures have been solved, the most recent being the Flyping conjecture, proved byMorwen Thistlethwaite andWilliam Menasco in 1991.[10]
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In 1857 Tait married Margaret Archer Porter (1839–1926).[8] She was the sister of (1)William Archer Porter, alawyer andeducationist who served as the Principal ofGovernment Arts College, Kumbakonam and tutor and secretary to the Maharaja ofMysore, (2)James Porter (Master of Peterhouse, Cambridge), and (3) Jane Bailie Porter, who marriedAlexander Crum Brown, the Scottish organic chemist.
Tait was an enthusiastic golfer and, of his seven children, two,Frederick Guthrie Tait (1870–1900) andJohn Guthrie Tait (1861–1945) went on to become gifted amateur golf champions.[4] (In 1891, Tait invoked theMagnus effect to explain the influence ofspin on the flight of agolf ball.) He was an all-round sportsman and represented Scotland at international level inrugby union. His daughter, Edith, married Rev.Harry Reid, who later becameBishop of Edinburgh. Another son,William, was acivil engineer.
Tait was a lifelong friend ofJames Clerk Maxwell, and a portrait of Tait byHarrington Mann is held in theJames Clerk Maxwell Foundation museum in Edinburgh.[12]
There are several portraits of Tait bySir George Reid. One, painted about 1883, is owned by theNational Galleries of Scotland, to which it was given by the artist in 1902.[13] Another portrait was unveiled atPeterhouse, Cambridge in October 1902, paid for by the Master and Fellows of Peterhouse, where Tait had been an Honorary Fellow.[14]
One of the chairs in the Department of Physics at the University of Edinburgh is the Tait professorship.[15]
Peter Guthrie Tait Road at the University of EdinburghKing's Buildings complex is named in his honour.
He was also given the following honours;
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Tait, Peter Guthrie".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 26 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 364–365.
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