BELFAST. 1854-60 



On September 14, 1854, P. G. Tail was appointed Professor of Mathe- 

 matics in Queen's College, Belfast. Among his colleagues were Thomas 

 Andrews, the famous experimenter on the liquefaction of gases, Wyville 

 Thomson, afterwards of Edinburgh and the scientific leader of the 

 Challenger Expedition, James Thomson (Lord Kelvin's brother), subsequently 

 professor of Engineering in Glasgow and the discoverer of the lowering of 

 the melting point of ice by pressure, and James MCosh, afterwards 

 President of Princeton. 



The Right Hon. Thomas Sinclair, of Belfast, who as senior scholar in 

 mathematics in 1857 assisted Tail in tutoring the junior men, mentions that in 

 addition to conducting his official classes in mathematics Tait supplemented 

 Professor Stevelly's lectures in Natural Philosophy by starting a voluntary 

 class for Honours men in the more advanced treatment of dynamics. This 

 was a great boon to those studying for honours. The voluntary class is 

 mentioned in a footnote in the Calendar, but there is no indication that the 

 class was carried on by the professor of mathematics. We can well imagine 

 the delight with which Tait would escape from the comparative dreariness of 

 Pure mathematics into the satisfying realities of Applied. Tait proved an 

 admirable teacher, clear and systematic in his treatment of the various 

 branches taught. In addition to the regular lectures, he gave tutorial 

 instruction to his pupils, setting them exercises and problems and helping 

 each individually in turn. 



In these years he continued to practise on the flute on which he was 

 a skilled performer. In Cambridge he had been a member of the amateur 

 orchestra, and we hear of him appearing at a concert in Belfast to play a 

 flute obligato to a distinguished local soprano singer. 



The two great scientific facts of his life in Belfast were his association with 

 Dr Andrews in experimental work and his study of Hamilton's calculus of 

 Quaternions. Often in conversation Tait expressed his indebtedness to 

 Andrews for initiating him into certain lines of experimentation. Their 

 joint papers on Ozone are published in Andrews' memorial volume. The 

 original conception of the investigation was due to the older man who had 



