Cargill Gilston Knott

Cargill Gilston Knott
Cargill Gilston Knott
Born	30 June 1856 Penicuik, Scotland
Died	26 October 1922(1922-10-26) (aged 66) Edinburgh, Scotland
Citizenship	British
Nationality	Scottish
Fields	physics, mathematics, seismology
Institutions	Scotland, Japan
Alma mater	University of Edinburgh
Notable awards	Order of the Rising Sun

Prof Cargill Gilston Knott FRS, FRSE LLD (30 June 1856 – 26 October 1922) was a Scottish physicist and mathematician who was a pioneer in seismological research. He spent his early career in Japan. He later became a Fellow of the Royal Society, Secretary of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and President of the Scottish Meteorological Society.

Knott was born in Penicuik, Midlothian, the son of Pelham Knott, an agent for a paper manufacturer and his wife Ellen. His paternal uncle was the artist Tavernor Knott.

He was educated at Arbroath High School in Angus, and attended the University of Edinburgh, where he studied alongside James Alfred Ewing. He worked on various aspects of electricity and magnetism, obtaining his doctorate in 1879.

He was appointed as an assistant in Natural Philosophy at Edinburgh University in 1879 and held this post until 1883, when he left to take up a post at Tokyo Imperial University. He was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1880 after being proposed by Peter Guthrie Tait, Alexander Crum Brown, John Gray McKendrick, and Alexander Buchan. He won the Society's Keith Prize for the period 1893-95. He served as Secretary 1905-1912 and General Secretary 1912-1922. He was also a founder of the Edinburgh Mathematical Society, taking the chair for its first meeting on Friday 2 February 1883.