John Scott Russell
| John Scott Russell | |
|---|---|
John Scott Russell in 1847
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| Born | 9 May 1808 Parkhead, Glasgow, Scotland |
| Died |
8 June 1882 (aged 74) Ventnor, Isle of Wight, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Education | Edinburgh University, St. Andrews University, Glasgow University |
| Spouse(s) | Harriette Russell (née Osborne) |
| Children | Osborne Russell, Norman Scott Russell, Louisa Scott Russell, Mary Rachel Scott Russell, Alice M. Scott Russell |
| Parent(s) | David Russell and Agnes Clark Scott |
| Engineering career | |
| Institutions | Royal Society of Edinburgh (Councillor 1838-9), Royal Society, Institution of Civil Engineers (Vice President), Institution of Naval Architects (Vice President), Society of Arts (Secretary 1845-50) |
| Awards | Keith Prize |
John Scott Russell FRSE FRS (9 May 1808, Parkhead, Glasgow – 8 June 1882, Ventnor, Isle of Wight) was a Scottish civil engineer, naval architect and shipbuilder who built the Great Eastern in collaboration with Isambard Kingdom Brunel. He made the discovery of the wave of translation that gave birth to the modern study of solitons, and developed the wave-line system of ship construction.
Russell was a promoter of the Great Exhibition of 1851.
John Russell was born on 9 May 1808 in Parkhead, Glasgow, the son of Reverend David Russell and Agnes Clark Scott. He spent one year at St. Andrews University before transferring to Glasgow University. It was while at Glasgow University that he added his mother's maiden name, Scott, to his own, to become John Scott Russell. He graduated from Glasgow University in 1825 at the age of 17 and moved to Edinburgh where he taught mathematics and science at the Leith Mechanics' Institute, achieving the highest attendance in the city.
On the death of Sir John Leslie, Professor of Natural Philosophy at Edinburgh University in 1832, Scott Russell, though only 24 years old, was elected to temporarily fill the vacancy pending the election of a permanent professor, due to his proficiency in the natural sciences and popularity as a lecturer. But although encouraged to stand for the permanent position he refused to compete with another candidate he admired and thereafter concentrated the engineering profession and experimental research on a large scale.
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