MacTutor
Thomas Muir
Times obituary
MATHEMATICIAN AND EDUCATIONIST
The death of Sir Thomas Muir in Cape Town yesterday at the age of 89 was announced in a Reuters telegram. He was a distinguished mathematician who was for many years Superintendent-General of Education in the Cape.
The son of George Muir of Stonebyres, Lanarkshire, he was educated at Glasgow University, where he was the first Greek and mathematical student of his year, and in Germany. Greek was his first love, but he was offered a tutorship in mathematics at St. Andrews in 1868, and this led to his appointment as Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Glasgow in 1871 and as headmaster of the mathematical and science departments of Glasgow High School in 1874. When in 1892 he was appointed Superintendent-General of Education, Cape Colony, he had already begun work on determinants, on which his mathematical reputation chiefly rests. His textbook appeared in 1882 and his "History of Determinants" in 1890, but he had also become an authority on the theory of education and on geographical discovery.
Muir was chosen chiefly by Cecil Rhodes, who was visiting England at the time, on the advice of Mr. Thomas Mas Fuller. An official of the Agent-General's office wanted to examine Muir's testimonies, but Rhodes said: "Damn the testimonies, I have seen the man." At the Cape his task was to pull together and develop a loose system. He reorganized the entire educational ladder from elementary school to university, practically created science teaching, and formed efficient training colleges for teachers. It was a long and arduous task, impossible for anyone except a real enthusiast, but Muir was strongly supported, notably by the late J. X. Merriman, and when he retired in 1915 he could claim that he had taught educational thought in the Cape to always be ahead of the actual school system. From 1897 to 1901 he was vice-chancellor of the University of the Cape, which granted him the first honorary degree of D.Sc it ever conferred, and he was president of the South Africa Association for the Advancement of Science in 1910. He represented the Union of South Africa at the Imperial Education Conference in London in 1911. He was elected F.R.S. in 1900, was awarded the Keith medal of the Royal Society of Edinburgh for mathematical research in 1884 and again in 1899, and the Gunning-Victoria prize for scientific work in 1916, was elected an honorary Fellow of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society in 1892, and received the honorary degree of LL.D. from Glasgow in 1882. He was created C.M.G. in 1901 and knighted in 1915.
After his retirement, Muir was free to continue his great work, "The Theory of Determinants in the Historical Order of Development," of which the first two volumes had appeared in 1906 and 1911. His "Contributions to the History of Determinants" appeared in 1930. He married Margaret, daughter of Mr. Dugald Bell, in 1876; she died in 1919. He leaves two sons and two daughters
MATHEMATICIAN AND EDUCATIONIST
The death of Sir Thomas Muir in Cape Town yesterday at the age of 89 was announced in a Reuters telegram. He was a distinguished mathematician who was for many years Superintendent-General of Education in the Cape.
The son of George Muir of Stonebyres, Lanarkshire, he was educated at Glasgow University, where he was the first Greek and mathematical student of his year, and in Germany. Greek was his first love, but he was offered a tutorship in mathematics at St. Andrews in 1868, and this led to his appointment as Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Glasgow in 1871 and as headmaster of the mathematical and science departments of Glasgow High School in 1874. When in 1892 he was appointed Superintendent-General of Education, Cape Colony, he had already begun work on determinants, on which his mathematical reputation chiefly rests. His textbook appeared in 1882 and his "History of Determinants" in 1890, but he had also become an authority on the theory of education and on geographical discovery.
Muir was chosen chiefly by Cecil Rhodes, who was visiting England at the time, on the advice of Mr. Thomas Mas Fuller. An official of the Agent-General's office wanted to examine Muir's testimonies, but Rhodes said: "Damn the testimonies, I have seen the man." At the Cape his task was to pull together and develop a loose system. He reorganized the entire educational ladder from elementary school to university, practically created science teaching, and formed efficient training colleges for teachers. It was a long and arduous task, impossible for anyone except a real enthusiast, but Muir was strongly supported, notably by the late J. X. Merriman, and when he retired in 1915 he could claim that he had taught educational thought in the Cape to always be ahead of the actual school system. From 1897 to 1901 he was vice-chancellor of the University of the Cape, which granted him the first honorary degree of D.Sc it ever conferred, and he was president of the South Africa Association for the Advancement of Science in 1910. He represented the Union of South Africa at the Imperial Education Conference in London in 1911. He was elected F.R.S. in 1900, was awarded the Keith medal of the Royal Society of Edinburgh for mathematical research in 1884 and again in 1899, and the Gunning-Victoria prize for scientific work in 1916, was elected an honorary Fellow of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society in 1892, and received the honorary degree of LL.D. from Glasgow in 1882. He was created C.M.G. in 1901 and knighted in 1915.
After his retirement, Muir was free to continue his great work, "The Theory of Determinants in the Historical Order of Development," of which the first two volumes had appeared in 1906 and 1911. His "Contributions to the History of Determinants" appeared in 1930. He married Margaret, daughter of Mr. Dugald Bell, in 1876; she died in 1919. He leaves two sons and two daughters
You can see the original newsprint at THIS LINK
