206 MEMOIR OF EATON HODGKINSON. 



The businoss, under tlie control and management of Mrs. Hodgldnson^ assisted 

 L^^ lier son and daughter, was succcssfuL 



Mr. Hcrdglvinson's spare moments from business were now entirely devoted to 

 reading any standard works on science which he could procure. The works of 

 Simpson, Emerson, and Dealtry contributed greatly to his knowledge. He read 

 these authors with earnestness and fidelity, and was wholly indebted to them for 

 his knowledge of the higher departments of matliematical research. Many of the 

 self-taught men of the last and the lieginning of the present century have 

 expressed their obligations to Thomas Simpson and William Emerson. Their 

 works, whatever prejudice may think or say to the contrar^^, were the best stand- 

 ard works of the age ; and it may be aflirmed that the scientific literature of 

 the eighteenth century is accurately and faithfully reflected from the pages of 

 the weaver of Market Bosworth, Thomas Simpson, and the Hurworth village 

 schoolmaster, Willianr Emerson. These humble but highly gifted men were more 

 catholic in their writings than are the authors of the present age. They wrote 

 to instruct the mass of mankind, but the writers in these days labor for a special 

 purpose, which is limited in its operation : they write only to supply the daily 

 routine of the school, without casting a single thought beyond its boundary. 



The late Rev. Robert Murphy, a Cambridge mathematician of distinguished 

 eminence, speaks of Thomas Simpson as an analysist of first^ate genius. (See 

 " Murphy's Equations.") M. Clairaut, Avhen in England, paid Simpson a visit 

 at Woolwich, in order to compare his own investigations on the motion of the 

 moon's apogee with the investigations of Simpson on the same subject. This fact 

 alone shows the high position in which Simj)son stood in the estimation of the most 

 eminent mathematicians of Europe. 



In consequence of his ardent love for scientific pursuits, Mr. Hodgkinson 

 became acquainted with the most gifted men then living in JManchester. Dr 

 Dalton, Holme, Henry, Ewart, Sibson, Johns, Fairbairn, were among the scien- 

 tific friends with whom he could freely converse on suVsjects which possessed a 

 mutual interest. In his mathematical reading he sought and obtained the help 

 of Dr. Dalton, who was then a private teacher of mathematics in Manchester. 

 He became one of Dalton's pupils, and read with him the works of Lagrange, 

 Laplace, Euler, and Bernoulli, whose writings were now engaging the attention 

 of the best and foremost mathematicians of England. These authors had been 

 instrumental in producing a great change in the mathematical sciences at Cam- 

 l)ridge ; their investigations were models of elegant algebraical demonstration, 

 both with regard to symmetry of notation and subject-matter of inquiry. The 

 friendship of Dalton and Hodgkinson, cemented by genial minds and kindred 

 pursuits, continued uninterruptedly till the death of Dalton. Though each of 

 these men had his distinctive field of labor, yet each could hold converse with 

 the other on their respective researches, and Mr. Hodgkinson entertained through 

 life a profound respectfor the high cjiaracter and great chemical discoveries of his 

 friend. The extent of his mathematical reading at this period may be estimated 

 by referring to his paper entitled " On the Transverse Strain and Strength of 

 Jilaterials," printed in the fourth volume of this society's memou's. 



HIS CHARACTER. 



The late Professor Hodgkinson, like a true philosopher, was satisfied with a 

 small but adequate competency, and, retiring from business at an early period, 

 he devoted a long life and rare mental gifts to the development of science. And 

 it is a pleasing reflection that while many men very eminent in the history of 

 science have had to wait a long time before their discoveries have been recog- 

 nized and adopted, Mr. Hodgkinson had the unusual pleasure of seeing the 

 fruits of his labors appreciated and applied to the construction of great prac- 

 tical engineering enterprises. The youthful days of Mr. Hodgkinson were not 



