Elizabeth McHarg facts for kids

Elizabeth Adam McHarg was a brilliant Scottish mathematician. She was born on April 22, 1923, and passed away on April 29, 1999. In 1965, she made history by becoming the first ever female president of the Edinburgh Mathematical Society. This was a big step for women in science!

Her Early Life and Schooling

Elizabeth McHarg went to the Glasgow High School for Girls. After that, she studied at the University of Glasgow. She worked very hard and earned a special degree in mathematics and natural philosophy in 1943. This was like getting top grades in advanced science and math.

The university was so impressed with her. They gave her the Thomas Logan Medal. She also received a George A Clark scholarship. This scholarship helped her continue her studies. It allowed her to become a researcher at Girton College, Cambridge.

While at Girton College, she studied very complex math problems. These were called nonlinear partial differential equations. She worked with another famous mathematician, Mary Cartwright. Elizabeth finished her Ph.D. degree in 1948. A Ph.D. is the highest university degree you can get.

Her Amazing Career

After finishing her studies, Elizabeth McHarg returned to the University of Glasgow. She became a lecturer there in 1948. A lecturer is like a university teacher. She became an expert in a special area of math called "special functions."

Elizabeth also helped share knowledge with others. She translated a math textbook called Differential Equations. The book was written by Francesco Tricomi in Italian. Elizabeth translated it into English. Her translation was first published in 1961. It was later re-published in 2012. This helped many English-speaking students learn from the book.