Message text written by Tony Moss >What do we know about Ferguson?< James Ferguson (1710 1776) James Ferguson was born in the parish of Rothiemay, in Banffshire, the son of a peasant farmer. Its an interesting comment on the value that we in the NE have placed on education over the centuries that his father living 300 years ago in an isolated country cottage in this part of Scotland could both read and write. James Ferguson was what is known as selftaught or, as he liked to say, taught by God. He had negligible formal schooling but did receive informal instruction from some of the local educated men. Later he had guidance from his own friends, amongst whom was one of the 18th centurys most able mathematicians, Colin Maclaurin, who had by then moved from Aberdeen to Edinburgh. [The Scottish National Portrait Gallery has a copy of a drawing of Maclaurin made by Ferguson]. College, Aberdeen
For this and more see: http://www.abdn.ac.uk/~nph126/article/starsne.pdf (page three) Is this your man? Patrick --------------------------------------------------- https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial
