Life and Letters of James David Forbes

A wide-ranging 1873 biography of a Victorian Scottish physicist who was also Britain's 'father of Alpine adventure'.

This co-authored 1873 publication describes the achievements of the Scottish scientist and mountaineer J. D. Forbes (1809–1868). It includes extensive biographical detail alongside Forbes' own writings, and provides a comprehensive reflection on the life and work of one of Britain's leading nineteenth-century physicists.First published in 1873, this co-authored biography of the Scottish physicist, Alpine explorer, and university leader James David Forbes (1809–1868) includes extracts from Forbes' letters. John Campbell Shairp, Forbes' successor as principal of the United College of the University of St Andrews, writes of Forbes' personal, family, and professional life, including his years at St Andrews. Forbes' student and his successor in the Natural Philosophy chair at the University of Edinburgh, Peter Guthrie Tait, himself an accomplished mathematical physicist who co-wrote, with Lord Kelvin, Treatise on Natural Philosophy (1867), discusses Forbes' scientific achievements and contributions. A. Adams-Reilly, a celebrated Irish mountaineer, cartographer, and friend of Forbes, writes of the latter's Alpine travels and his work and interest in glaciers. In Shairp's words, in addition to all of his academic accomplishments, Forbes was also Britain's 'father of Alpine adventure'.