OBITUARY NOTICES OF FELLOWS DECEASED. 



Dr. HUBERT A. NEWTON, Professor of Mathematics in Yale Uni- 

 versity, whose death occurred on the 12th of August, 1896, was born 

 in 1830, on the 19th of March, at Sherburne, in the State of New 

 York. Both his parents were descended from ancestors who were 

 among the first British settlers in Connecticut. His father built the 

 Buffalo section of the Erie Canal, and it is recorded of his mother, 

 whose maiden name was Butler, that she was remarkable for her 

 mathematical attainments. He was one of ten children seven sons 

 and three daughters. 



At school the lad showed the aptitude for mathematics, and especi- 

 ally for geometry, which distinguished him throughout his life. He 

 entered Yale University at the age of 16, and graduated with the 

 highest mathematical honours in 1850. After his graduation he 

 continued for two and a half years more to devote himself to the 

 study of advanced mathematics, at the expiration of which time he 

 was, in 1853, appointed mathematical tutor in his university. Two 

 years later, at the unusually early age of 25, he was elected to the 

 full professorship, which he held through the rest of his life. In 

 1859 he married a daughter of the Rev. Joseph C. Stiles, who 

 survived her husband only three months, leaving two daughters. 



Professor Newton's life was one of great industry. He was Associate 

 Editor of the ' American Journal of Science ' for twenty-seven years, 

 was a member and afterwards President of the Publishing Committee 

 of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences, and, in addition to 

 a long list of original memoirs, wrote articles for various cyclopaedias, 

 among others for the ' Encyclopaedia Britannica.' He took an active 

 parfc in promoting the introduction of metric measures into America, 

 and on the Board of Management of the Yale Observatory, which 

 owed its existence largely to the efforts and personal sacrifices of 

 Professor Newton, and of which he was for a long time Secretary 

 and for two years Director. He even took a part in municipal 

 affairs, and it is characteristic of the esteem in which he was held, 

 that it is recorded of him that he was elected alderman in a ward in 

 which the prevailing politics were in opposition to his own. In 1875 

 he presided over the Mathematical Section of the American Associa- 

 tion for the Advancement of Science, and in 1885 was President of 

 the Association. At an early period he received the honorary 

 degree of LL.D. from Michigan University, and in 1888 was 



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