Leslie gave the first modern account of capillary action in 1802[3] and froze water using an air-pump in 1810, the first artificial production of ice.
In 1804, he experimented with radiant heat using a cubical vessel filled with boiling water. One side of the cube is composed of highly polished metal, two of dull metal (copper) and one side painted black. He showed that radiation was greatest from the black side and negligible from the polished side. The apparatus is known as a Leslie cube.
Leslie was born the son of Robert Leslie, a joiner and cabinetmaker, and his wife Anne Carstairs, in Largo in Fife.[4] He received his early education there and at Leven. In his thirteenth year, encouraged by friends who had even then remarked his aptitude for mathematical and physical science, he entered the University of St Andrews. On the completion of his course in 1784, he nominally studied divinity at the University of Edinburgh but gained no further degrees.
From 1788–1789 he spent rather more than a year as a private tutor in a Virginian family, and from 1791 till the close of 1792 he held a similar appointment at Etruria, Staffordshire, with the family of Josiah Wedgwood, employing his spare time in experimental research and in preparing a translation of Buffon's Natural History of Birds, which was published in nine volumes in 1793, which brought him money.
Middle years
Frontispiece of Leslie's A Short Account of Experiments and Instruments, Depending on the Relations of Air to Heat and Moisture 1813
Leslie's home at 62 Queen Street, Edinburgh
For the next twelve years (passed chiefly in London or at Largo, with an occasional visit to the continent of Europe) he continued his physical studies, which resulted in numerous papers contributed by him to Nicholson's Philosophical Journal, and in the publication (1804) of the Experimental Inquiry into the Nature and Properties of Heat, a work which gained him the Rumford Medal of the Royal Society of London.
In 1805 he was elected to succeed John Playfair in the chair of mathematics at Edinburgh. This despite violent opposition on the part of a party who accused him of heresy.
During his tenure of this chair he published two volumes of A Course of Mathematics-the first, entitled Elements of Geometry, Geometrical Analysis and Plane Trigonometry, in 1809, and the second, Geometry of Curve Lines, in 1813; the third volume, on Descriptive Geometry and the Theory of Solids was never completed. With reference to his invention (in 1810) of a process of artificial ice-making, he published in 1813 A Short Account of Experiments and Instruments depending on the relations of Air to Heat and Moisture; and in 1818 a paper by him, On certain impressions of cold transmitted from the higher atmosphere, with an instrument (the aethrioscope) adapted to measure them, appeared in the Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
When John Playfair died in 1819, Leslie was promoted to the more congenial chair of natural philosophy, which he held until his death. He published a famous book about multiplication table The Philosophy of Arithmetic in 1820.[7] In 1823 he published, chiefly for the use of his class, the first volume of his never-completed Elements of Natural Philosophy.
Leslie's main contributions to physics were made by the help of the differential thermometer,[8] an instrument whose invention was contested with him by Count Rumford. By adapting to this instrument various ingenious devices, Leslie was able to employ it in a great variety of investigations, connected especially with photometry, hygroscopy and the temperature of space. In 1820 he was elected a corresponding member of the Institute of France, the only distinction of the kind which he valued, and early in 1832 he was knighted.
In his final years he is listed as living at 62 Queen Street, a large Georgian flat in Edinburgh's New Town.[9]
Leslie died of typhus[10] in November 1832 (during the epidemic of that year) at Coates, a small property he had acquired near Largo in Fife, at the age of 66.
His nephew was the civil engineer, James Leslie, son of his brother, Alexander Leslie, an architect-builder in Largo. His great nephew (James's son) was Alexander Leslie.
Selected works
An Experimental Inquiry into the Nature and Propagation of Heat (1804)
Elements of Geometry, Geometrical Analysis, and Plane Trigonometry (ca. 1811)
Second edition (1811)
Geometrische Analysis (1822) "Greatly" enlarged by Johann Philipp Grüson (in German)
A Short Account of Experiments and Instruments, Depending on the Relations of Air to Heat and Moisture (1813)
Philosophy of Arithmetic; Exhibiting a Progressive View of the Theory and Practice of Calculation, with an Enlarged Table of the Products of Numbers under One Hundred (1817).
Second edition (1820)
Geometrical Analysis and Geometry of Curve Lines being Volume the Second of A Course of Mathematics and designed as an Introduction to the Study of Natural Philosophy [Edinburgh Printed for W and C Tait, Prince's Street and Longman Hurst Rees Orme and Brown, London 1821]
Biographies of Leslie
E. M. Horsburgh (1933). "The Works of Sir John Leslie (1766–1832)". Mathematical Notes, 28, pp i-v. doi:10.1017/S1757748900002279.
^Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783 – 2002(PDF). The Royal Society of Edinburgh. July 2006. ISBN0-902-198-84-X.
^Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, vol. 9, p. 518.
^Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783 – 2002(PDF). The Royal Society of Edinburgh. July 2006. ISBN0-902-198-84-X.
^Leslie, John (1820). The Philosophy of Arithmetic; Exhibiting a Progressive View of the Theory and Practice of Calculation, with Tables for the Multiplication of Numbers as Far as One Thousand. Edinburgh: Abernethy & Walker.
^"Edinburgh Post Office annual directory, 1832-1833". National Library of Scotland. p. 108. Retrieved 17 February 2018.
^London Medical and Surgical Journal, January 1833
^"In these years Leslie was an unsuccessful candidate for the chairs of natural philosophy at the universities of St Andrews and Glasgow respectively. He failed at the former because he was then an extreme whig and an atheist who deplored the Erastianism of many of the Scottish clergy." Jack Morrell, 'Leslie, Sir John (1766–1832)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 (accessed May 2, 2008).
Olson, Richard G. (1969). "Sir John Leslie and the Laws of Electrical Conduction in Solids". American Journal of Physics. 37 (2): 190–194. Bibcode:1969AmJPh..37..190O. doi:10.1119/1.1975442.
Olson, Richard G. (1970). "Count Rumford, Sir John Leslie, and the study of the nature and propagation of heat at the beginning of the nineteenth century". Annals of Science. 26 (4): 273–304. doi:10.1080/00033797000203537.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to John Leslie (physicist).
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Leslie, Sir John". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
February 05, 2023
john, leslie, physicist, other, people, named, john, leslie, john, leslie, disambiguation, john, leslie, frse, april, 1766, november, 1832, scottish, mathematician, physicist, best, remembered, research, into, heat, john, lesliejohn, leslieborn10, april, 1766,. For other people named John Leslie see John Leslie disambiguation Sir John Leslie FRSE KH 10 April 1766 3 November 1832 was a Scottish mathematician and physicist best remembered for his research into heat 2 John LeslieJohn LeslieBorn10 April 1766 1766 04 10 Largo FifeDied3 November 1832 1832 11 04 aged 66 NationalityBritishKnown forStudies of heat Leslie cubeAwardsRumford Medal 1804 Scientific careerFieldsMathematics PhysicsInfluencesDavid Hume 1 Sir John Leslie by Sir John Steell Leslie gave the first modern account of capillary action in 1802 3 and froze water using an air pump in 1810 the first artificial production of ice In 1804 he experimented with radiant heat using a cubical vessel filled with boiling water One side of the cube is composed of highly polished metal two of dull metal copper and one side painted black He showed that radiation was greatest from the black side and negligible from the polished side The apparatus is known as a Leslie cube Contents 1 Early life 2 Middle years 3 Later years 4 Family 5 Selected works 6 Biographies of Leslie 7 See also 8 References 9 Further reading 10 External linksEarly life EditLeslie was born the son of Robert Leslie a joiner and cabinetmaker and his wife Anne Carstairs in Largo in Fife 4 He received his early education there and at Leven In his thirteenth year encouraged by friends who had even then remarked his aptitude for mathematical and physical science he entered the University of St Andrews On the completion of his course in 1784 he nominally studied divinity at the University of Edinburgh but gained no further degrees From 1788 1789 he spent rather more than a year as a private tutor in a Virginian family and from 1791 till the close of 1792 he held a similar appointment at Etruria Staffordshire with the family of Josiah Wedgwood employing his spare time in experimental research and in preparing a translation of Buffon s Natural History of Birds which was published in nine volumes in 1793 which brought him money Middle years Edit Frontispiece of Leslie s A Short Account of Experiments and Instruments Depending on the Relations of Air to Heat and Moisture 1813 Leslie s home at 62 Queen Street Edinburgh For the next twelve years passed chiefly in London or at Largo with an occasional visit to the continent of Europe he continued his physical studies which resulted in numerous papers contributed by him to Nicholson s Philosophical Journal and in the publication 1804 of the Experimental Inquiry into the Nature and Properties of Heat a work which gained him the Rumford Medal of the Royal Society of London In 1805 he was elected to succeed John Playfair in the chair of mathematics at Edinburgh This despite violent opposition on the part of a party who accused him of heresy During his tenure of this chair he published two volumes of A Course of Mathematics the first entitled Elements of Geometry Geometrical Analysis and Plane Trigonometry in 1809 and the second Geometry of Curve Lines in 1813 the third volume on Descriptive Geometry and the Theory of Solids was never completed With reference to his invention in 1810 of a process of artificial ice making he published in 1813 A Short Account of Experiments and Instruments depending on the relations of Air to Heat and Moisture and in 1818 a paper by him On certain impressions of cold transmitted from the higher atmosphere with an instrument the aethrioscope adapted to measure them appeared in the Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh In 1807 he became a member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 5 His proposers were John Playfair Thomas Charles Hope and George Dunbar 6 Later years EditWhen John Playfair died in 1819 Leslie was promoted to the more congenial chair of natural philosophy which he held until his death He published a famous book about multiplication table The Philosophy of Arithmetic in 1820 7 In 1823 he published chiefly for the use of his class the first volume of his never completed Elements of Natural Philosophy Leslie s main contributions to physics were made by the help of the differential thermometer 8 an instrument whose invention was contested with him by Count Rumford By adapting to this instrument various ingenious devices Leslie was able to employ it in a great variety of investigations connected especially with photometry hygroscopy and the temperature of space In 1820 he was elected a corresponding member of the Institute of France the only distinction of the kind which he valued and early in 1832 he was knighted In his final years he is listed as living at 62 Queen Street a large Georgian flat in Edinburgh s New Town 9 Leslie died of typhus 10 in November 1832 during the epidemic of that year at Coates a small property he had acquired near Largo in Fife at the age of 66 Leslie was an atheist 11 Family EditJohn Leslie did not marry and had no children His nephew was the civil engineer James Leslie son of his brother Alexander Leslie an architect builder in Largo His great nephew James s son was Alexander Leslie Selected works EditAn Experimental Inquiry into the Nature and Propagation of Heat 1804 Elements of Geometry Geometrical Analysis and Plane Trigonometry ca 1811 Second edition 1811 Geometrische Analysis 1822 Greatly enlarged by Johann Philipp Gruson in German A Short Account of Experiments and Instruments Depending on the Relations of Air to Heat and Moisture 1813 Second supplement de la geometrie descriptive 12 with Gaspard Monge and Jean Nicolas Pierre Hachette 1818 in French Philosophy of Arithmetic Exhibiting a Progressive View of the Theory and Practice of Calculation with an Enlarged Table of the Products of Numbers under One Hundred 1817 Second edition 1820 Geometrical Analysis and Geometry of Curve Lines being Volume the Second of A Course of Mathematics and designed as an Introduction to the Study of Natural Philosophy Edinburgh Printed for W and C Tait Prince s Street and Longman Hurst Rees Orme and Brown London 1821 Biographies of Leslie EditE M Horsburgh 1933 The Works of Sir John Leslie 1766 1832 Mathematical Notes 28 pp i v doi 10 1017 S1757748900002279 See also EditAtmometer evaporimeter Timeline of low temperature technologyReferences Edit The Reception of David Hume In Europe edited by Peter Jones Continuum International Publishing Group 2005 p 333 Leslie John 1766 1832 Dictionary of National Biography London Smith Elder amp Co 1885 1900 Leslie John 1802 On capillary action Philosophical Magazine 1st series 14 55 193 205 doi 10 1080 14786440208676183 Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783 2002 PDF The Royal Society of Edinburgh July 2006 ISBN 0 902 198 84 X Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh vol 9 p 518 Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783 2002 PDF The Royal Society of Edinburgh July 2006 ISBN 0 902 198 84 X Leslie John 1820 The Philosophy of Arithmetic Exhibiting a Progressive View of the Theory and Practice of Calculation with Tables for the Multiplication of Numbers as Far as One Thousand Edinburgh Abernethy amp Walker Photographs of differential thermometers Edinburgh Post Office annual directory 1832 1833 National Library of Scotland p 108 Retrieved 17 February 2018 London Medical and Surgical Journal January 1833 In these years Leslie was an unsuccessful candidate for the chairs of natural philosophy at the universities of St Andrews and Glasgow respectively He failed at the former because he was then an extreme whig and an atheist who deplored the Erastianism of many of the Scottish clergy Jack Morrell Leslie Sir John 1766 1832 Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Oxford University Press 2004 accessed May 2 2008 Geometrie descriptive is a book by Monge 1799 Further reading EditOlson Richard G 1969 Sir John Leslie and the Laws of Electrical Conduction in Solids American Journal of Physics 37 2 190 194 Bibcode 1969AmJPh 37 190O doi 10 1119 1 1975442 Olson Richard G 1970 Count Rumford Sir John Leslie and the study of the nature and propagation of heat at the beginning of the nineteenth century Annals of Science 26 4 273 304 doi 10 1080 00033797000203537 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to John Leslie physicist Works by John Leslie at Open Library Biographical information This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain Chisholm Hugh ed 1911 Leslie Sir John Encyclopaedia Britannica 11th ed Cambridge University Press Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title John Leslie physicist amp oldid 1129207743, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
