| Description | <p>Letters were found arranged in bundles covering a particular year or range of years, and have been described below in these groups.</p>
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<p>Letters covering the period 1878-1880 on reading German books, experience of a temporary lectureship at Durham, Pearson's differential equations, Lagrange's proof of virtual velocity, about taking up handicrafts, measuring work in coal pits, a trip to North America, and on Spinoza and Pearson's articles on "inverted Spinozism" in the <i>Cambridge Review</i>.</p>
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<p>Letters covering the period 1882-1885 on proposed changes to the constitution of King's College, Cambridge, on returning Pearson's manuscripts, on kinetic energy of fluids, about Pearson's prospects of a job at Newcastle, about appointment as Lecturer in Mathematics (applied mechanics) at King's College, Cambridge, remarks on <i>Common Sense of the Exact Sciences</i>, remarks on Pearson's paper on struts, Fellowship elections at King's College, and about Pearson's suggested standardised names and notations for engineering concepts.</p>
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<p>Letters covering the year 1886 on being a candidate for the Professorship of Mathematics at University College, Liverpool, and Pearson's testimonial, on the death of Henry Bradshaw, about an idea for a new engineering degree course, on Maxwell's notation, about teaching of science in the Birmingham Board Schools, and on Todhunter's <i>History of the Theory of Elasticity</i> which was completed by Pearson.</p>
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<p>Letters covering the year 1887 on Alex B W Kennedy's <i>Mechanics of Machinery</i>, about a trip to Rome and going to the Football Association (FA) Cup Final, about integrating machines, particularly the integrator created by Mr C V Boys, on St. Venant's torsion memoir, on a movement led by Henry Sidgwick to award women degrees at Cambridge, on elastic points, on Horace Darwin's view of Boys' integrator, experiments on the Forth Bridge, about resigning his lectureship at King's College and being appointed House Bursar, on appointment to the Mathematical Board, and suggesting private mathematics tutors [possibly for Dame Fawcett's child]. Also contains two letters from Pearson on St. Venant's torsion memoir, an integrated machine by Mr Boys, and on degrees for women.</p>
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<p>Letters covering the period 1888-1891 on Hooke's Law in relation to anchorage, regarding decision to support Sidgwick as candidate for [a post not mentioned, possibly syndics], about problems with the Mathematical Tripos and aim of the Board to find remedies, about asking Alex Kennedy the best route of study in mechanics for his 16 year old cousin, news on election, appointments and building work at Cambridge, on Pearson's proposed marriage, on a paper by Pearson on shafting, about James Stuart's proposed resignation from his Professorship in Mechanism and Applied Mechanics, about sending a copy of <i>Glossarium ad Scriptores mediae et infirmae Graecitatis</i> by Charles de Fresne, Sieur du Cange, as a wedding present, on his brother's illness, a testimonial in support of Pearson's application for the Gresham Professorship, on Pearson's probability questions, about the birth of Pearson's daughter (Sigrid) and the "law of sameness" referring to inheritance of characters, on laws of motion and kinetic axes of reference, on absolute rotation, and on kinematical and mathematical understanding of the word "acceleration".</p>
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<p>Letters covering the period 1892-1900 on returning proofs of Pearson's <i>Grammar of Science</i> with comments, on the rate of velocity of blast needed to cut or obscure glass or quartz, enclosing a catalogue of sand-blast machinery and an offprint of "The Stresses and Deflection of Braced Girders" by Macauley from <i>Philosophical Magazine</i>, a note on references to articles and books on records of roulette play at Monte Carlo, on the death of his brother Henry, on the undergraduate experience at Cambridge and scholarship opportunities, asking whether Pearson will talk with H Fountain about statistical theory, congratulating Pearson on his election to the Fellowship of the Royal Society, on writing a paper on the foundations of dynamics and finding a publisher for his work on frames, about K H Brent's intention to apply for the vacant Lectureship in German at UCL, clarifying a paper on Newton and difficulty in describing particles due to restricted lexicon, on sending a proof to Pearson of a paper on girders, on a review of A E Love's book on dynamics, on surgical treatment for varicose veins, about a visit at Cambridge from the newly formed National Union of Teachers, and asking if Pearson will accept an American student interested in studying the theory of evolution.</p>
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<p> Letters covering the period 1901-1933 on a dissertation by C E Anglis on balancing of engines, his undertaking of an article on "Laws of Motion" for the <i>Encyclopaedia Britannica</i>, about a vacant chair in experimental physics at Edinburgh University and likely candidates, enclosing a list of names of Cambridge students with examination results and a key to notation, about standard of requirement and classification in triposes, on his appointment as Tutor at King's College, Cambridge, on proposals to make Pearson an Honorary Fellow of King's College, on the death of W F R Weldon, on Egon's academic success at Winchester School and the death of Macauley's nephew, Lieutenant A F Macauley R. E., in India, about suitable uniform to wear at Winchester School, on intercollegiate scholarship examinations at Cambridge, about outside views of the new generation of King's College dons, about Egon's choice of subjects in the scholarship examination at Cambridge, defending the reputation of King's College and the quality of the undergraduates, on Egon's scholarship exam performance, the social life for freshmen and available games, on the impact of the First World War on University life, on supervising the convalescent hospital at Cambridge, on finding a mathematician for a post at UCL, on ballistics work for A V Hill, on Robert Parker's death and commission of a commemorative portrait, on room for returning scholars at King's in light of Egon's return, about de Moivre's connection with Stirling's theorem, on the death of Pearson's wife (Maria Sharpe), and on the disposition of Newton's library and death of J H Morley.</p>
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<p>Also contains a letter to Egon Pearson thanking him for a photograph and inviting him to breakfast, dated 1904; a letter to the Provost of King's College about scope and conditions of a prospective studentship award to be funded by the Parker family, dated 1919; and three letters to Pearson's second wife Margaret Victoria Pearson (née Child), written between 1929 and 1933, thanking her for hospitality on his visits.</p> |