Edward Sang Explained

Edward Sang
Honorific Suffix:FRSSA FRSE
Birth Date:30 January 1805
Birth Place:Kirkcaldy, Scotland
Death Place:Edinburgh, Scotland
Resting Place:Newington Cemetery
Nationality:Scottish
Alma Mater:University of Edinburgh
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Notable Students:David Cousin
Known For:tables of logarithms, calculations on the earth's rotation
Awards:FRSSA (1828)
FRSE (1836)
Makdougall Brisbane Prize (1882-84)
Spouse:Isabella Elmslie (b. 1804)
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Children:4 daughters, 1 son

Edward Sang FRSE FRSSA LLD (30 January 1805 – 23 December 1890) was a Scottish mathematician and civil engineer, best known for having computed large tables of logarithms, with the help of two of his daughters. These tables went beyond the tables of Henry Briggs, Adriaan Vlacq, and Gaspard de Prony.

Personal life

Sang was born in Kirkcaldy on 30 January 1805, the son of Jean Nicol and Edward Sang, Provost of Kirkcaldy. He attended the Subscription School in Kirkcaldy and from there went on to study at the University of Edinburgh.

In the 1830s he is listed as a teacher of mathematics living at 32 St Andrew Square in Edinburgh.[1]

He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in May 1836. In 1884 he was awarded their Makdougall-Brisbane Prize. He served as their Vice President 1883 to 1885.

In 1841 he took the role of Professor of Mechanical Science at Manchester New College. In 1854 he briefly served as Professor of Mechanical Science in Constantinople. He returned to Edinburgh in 1854 to again teach mathematics.

He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Scottish Society of the Arts in 1828, and was its president from 1857 to 1858.[2]

In 1884 he was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia.

Sang died at his home, 31 Mayfield Road, Edinburgh Newington on 23 December 1890.

Grave

He is buried with his wife and children in Newington Cemetery, Edinburgh. The grave can be found when entering from Dalkeith Road, near the cemetery lodge, and then going straight for about 50 meters until meeting a circular plot of graves. Sang's grave is slightly towards the left, on the second circle from the outside. The inscription on the tombplate is

Sacred
to the memory
of
Edward Sang,
LL.D., F.R.S.E., F.R.S.S.A.,
corres. memb. royal academy, Turin,
honor. memb. Franklin Institute,
born at Kirkcaldy
30 January 1805 died 23 December 1890
Isabella Elmslie
his wife
born at Tannadice, Forfar
2 February 1804 died 24 August 1880
Jane Nicol
second daughter
born 16 May 1834 died 9 February 1878
Edward Elmslie
only son
born 9 January 1836 died 31 October 1882
Isabella Millar
Fourth daughter
born 24 July 1841 died 3 March 1884
Anna Wilkie,
Eldest daughter
born 23 November 1832 died 25 September 1917
Flora Chalmers
Third daughter
born 11 May 1838 died 10 May 1925.

(Elmslie, Nicol, Millar, Wilkie and Chalmers are middle names taken from ancestors' surnames.)

Family

Edward Sang was married to Isabella Elmslie (2 February 1804, Tannadice, Forfar – 24 August 1880) and they had five children:

None of the children married.

The engineer John Sang (1809-1887) was a brother of Edward Sang. In 1851, he invented a planimeter which he called "platometer."

Mathematical work

Demonstrating the rotation of the Earth

In 1836, Sang explained how a spinning top could be used to demonstrate the rotation of the Earth, anticipating Foucault's pendulum. (see Johann G. Hagen: La rotation de la terre, ses preuves mécaniques anciennes et nouvelles, 1911)

Trigonometric and logarithmic tables

Sang worked for many years on trigonometric and logarithmic tables. Summaries of his tables were published by Alex Craik.

Sang's 1871 table and his project for a 9-place million table were (re)constructed as part of the LOCOMAT project.

Various other works

Publications

The following list is certainly still incomplete. Some page ranges may be slightly incorrect. Note that Pebble's list of publications contains more items, but some of them seem spurious, and others are not actual publications. Nevertheless, the present list is very likely incomplete.

Communications are marked with "(communication)" and are reviews or summaries of communicated papers. There are many more than those mentioned in the subsequent list.

1829–1834

1835–1839

1840–1849

[Between 1843 and 1854, Sang was in Turkey, certainly explaining the almost total absence of publications in that period. There are possibly articles or books in Turkish.]

1850–1859

1860–1864

1865–1869

1870–1874

1875–1879

1880–1889

1890–1915

Manuscripts

Sang left many manuscripts which are stored at the National Library of Scotland and at Edinburgh University Library.

Other manuscripts:

Articles and books by Edward Sang's father, brothers and son

These references are given in particular for the purpose of disambiguation.

Sang also had a younger brother John (1809–1887), who was civil engineer and invented a planimeter:

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Edinburgh – Post Office annual directory > 1832-1833. National Library of Scotland. 2017-12-28.
  2. Web site: The Royal Scottish Society of Arts Past Presidents. The Royal Scottish Society of Arts. en. 2017-12-28.

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