Charles Niven (original) (raw)

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Charles Niven
Born (1845-09-14)14 September 1845Peterhead, Scotland
Died 11 May 1923(1923-05-11) (aged 77)Aberdeen, Scotland
Resting place St Devenicks-on-the-Hill, Banchory-Devenick (Aberdeenshire)57°06′47″N 2°11′47″W / 57.113051°N 2.196437°W / 57.113051; -2.196437
Alma mater University of Cambridge
Spouse Mary Stewart
Parent(s) Charles Niven and Barbara Davidson
Scientific career
Fields Mathematics
Institutions Marischal College, University of Aberdeen

Charles Niven (1845–1923) was a Scottish mathematician and physicist who spent most of his career at the University of Aberdeen. He published on mechanics, electricity, and heat.[1]

Charles Niven studied mathematics at Aberdeen and was awarded a BA in 1863, and then studied at Cambridge. Charles and his older brother William D. were tutored by Edward Routh for the Mathematical Tripos. Charles became senior wrangler in 1867.[2]

In 1867, Niven was appointed Professor of Mathematics at Queen's College Cork, in Ireland[3] a position that George Boole had previously occupied.

From 1880, Niven was professor of Natural Philosophy in the University of Aberdeen, and he was responsible for establishing the Physics Department in Marischal College in 1906.[4] He retired at the end of 1922.[5]

Charles Niven was a Fellow of the Royal Society from 1880 and honorary member of the Edinburgh Mathematical Society from 1883.[6]

  1. ^ Niven, Charles Some Account of the Last Bajans of King's and Marischal Colleges, p.42
  2. ^ Warwick 2003, p. 154.
  3. ^ Macdonald 1923, p. xxvii.
  4. ^ O'Connor & Robertson, MacTutor History of Mathematics.
  5. ^ Macdonald 1923, p. xxviii.
  6. ^ Royal Society Obituary of Charles Niven