Matthew Stewart, FRS FRSE

Matthew attended a grammar school on the Isle of Bute, then in 1734 he began to work under Simson at the University of Glasgow. In 1741 he moved from working under one outstanding Scottish mathematician to working under another outstanding Scottish mathematician when he began to study with Maclaurin at the University of Edinburgh. During this time, however, he continued to correspond with Simson, who was by now a friend rather than a teacher, on Greek geometry.

In May 1743 Stewart spent several weeks in Glasgow working on mathematics with Simson and assisting him in the production of his text Plane loci. He returned to Rothesay, Isle of Bute, where his father put pressure on him to join the ministry.

Stewart married Marjorie Stewart, the only daughter of Archibald Stewart writer to the signet, on 20 May 1750. They had several children who died as infants, but only one son survived, namely Dugald Stewart who went on to achieve more fame than his father. Dugald Stewart, who was born on 22 November 1753, went on to become a mathematician and philosopher who was the major exponent of the Scottish "common sense" school of philosophy.

In 1756 Stewart wrote on Kepler's second law of planetary motion using geometrical methods. In this he solved Kepler's problem which involved determining the area of a focal sector of an ellipse. In 1761 he wrote Tracts, Physical and Mathematical, Containing an Explication of Several Points in Physical Astronomy describing planetary motion and the perturbation of one planet on another. In this work he made some contributions to the extremely difficult and important three body problem. Two years later, he wrote the supplement The Distance of the Sun from the Earth determined by the Theory of Gravity. This work achieved the rather inaccurate result of 119 million miles (the correct value is approximately 93 million miles). His geometrical methods required too many simplifications to get a better result and this work was criticised by John Landen in 1771.

Stewart was elected a fellow of the Royal Society on 21 June 1764. In 1772 his health began to deteriorate and his duties as professor at Edinburgh were taken over by his son Dugald. 

He was also a founder member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, being elected a fellow of the first meeting of its physical class on 3 November 1783. 

He was honoured by the University of Glasgow with the award of an honorary degree in 1756. We should also note that his fame was considerable.

After the death of his father, Dugald Stewart resigned from the Chair of Mathematics at Edinburgh when he was appointed Professor of Moral Philosophy at Edinburgh.

[ ] http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Biographies/Stewart.html

Biographical Summary

STEWART, MATTHEW. 15/01/1717-23/01/1785. Ref: 1441. Male.

• Titles and British Honours: Rev.
• Place of Birth: Rothesay, Isle of Bute.
• Place of Death: Catrine, Ayrshire.
• Place of interment: Greyfriar's Edinburgh.
• Profession: Minister of Religion, Mathematician.
• Appointments Held: Minister 1745-7, Roseneath, Dumbartonshire; Professor 1747-72, Joint Professor 1772-5, Mathematics Edinburgh University.
• Schools and Tutors: Rothesay Grammar School.
• Undergraduate Studies: Glasgow University, Edinburgh University.
• Postgraduate Studies: DD(Hon. Glasgow 1756).
• Publications: "General Theorems of Use in the Higher Parts of Mathematics" 1746, "Tracts Physical and Mathematical" 1761.
• Marital Status: Married Marjory Stewart of Catrine, Ayrshire d.1771.
• Family: son Dugald Stewart FRSE 1753-1828.
• Mother: Janet Bannatyne.
• Father: Rev Dugald Stewart, Minister of Rothesay, Isle of Bute.
• Other Family: Grandfather of Patrick Miller FRSE 1782-1871 and of Matthew Stewart, FRSE c1784-1851. References: DNB 54, 1898, 336-7; Trans Roy Soc Edinb. I, Appendix 57-76, (3/4/1786); Anderson 3, 517-8; Shapin 443; S Devlin-Thorp Scotland's Cultural Heritage 1, 1981; W P Anderson 1931, 374-5.
• Memberships: FRS (1764).
• Date of Election: 17/11/1783.
• Proposers: Founder Member.
• Edinburgh Philosophical Society: Residential.
• Notes: Date of birth was probably 1719, see W P Anderson 1931, p.375.
• Fellow Type: OF.

SOURCE: Waterston, Charles D; Macmillan Shearer, A (July 2006). Biographical index of former fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 1783-2002: Biographical Index. II. Edinburgh: The Royal Society of Edinburgh. ISBN 978-0-902198-84-5. page 893