Clan Tait

Peter Guthrie Tait FRSE (28 April 1831 - 4 July 1901)

Peter Tait was an eminent mathematical physicist who co-wrote the seminal energy physics textbook Treatise on Natural Philosophy with William Thomson, the future Lord Kelvin.

Born in Dalkeith, Tait was educated at the Edinburgh Academy, before going to the University of Edinburgh, and later Cambridge. He graduated from Peterhouse at Cambridge in 1852 as senior wrangler, meaning that he achieved the highest grades in mathematics in the whole of Cambridge University. An achievement previously referred to as "the greatest intellectual achievement attainable in Britain." At the age of 20, he the youngest person to have ever achieved this.

Peter Tait's early research into the knot theory hugely helped to the eventual formation of topology as a mathematical discipline.

Tait married and had seven children. He was a very keen golfer, as were two of his sons, Frederick Guthrie Tait (1870–1900) and John Guthrie Tait (1861–1945) who went on to become talented amateur champions. John was also a rugby enthusiast and represented Scotland twice in the sport, in 1880 and 1885.

Peter Guthrie Tait died in Edinburgh on the 4th of July, 1901 at the age of 70.