LORD KELVIN'S successor in the Chair of Natural Philosophy
in Glasgow University was born at Lochgelly, Fifeshire, in 1847, and received
his early education in the Subscription School of his native place. After
private tuition later he entered Glasgow University, where he earned the
Eglinton Fellowship in Mathematics in 1876, and so gained the confidence of Sir
William Thomson, afterwards Lord Kelvin, that he appointed him as private
secretary and assistant. This post he held till 1880, when he became official
assistant to the Professor of Natural Philosophy. In 1884 he gave up the
appointment to become Professor of Physics in the University College of North
Wales. And on 5th October, 1899, he returned to Glasgow as successor to his old
chief in the Chair of Natural Philosophy.
Professor Gray is the author of various scientific papers,
and among his publications are "Absolute Measurements in Electricity and
Magnetism" and "Theory and Practice in Absolute Measurement in Electricity and
Magnetism." He is M.A. and LL.D., as well as a Fellow of the Royal Society.
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Index of Glasgow Men (1909)