Front cover

Photograph of James Alfred Ewing, courtesy of University of Dundee Museum Services. Ewing was born on 27 March 1855 in Dundee, Scotland, and died on 7 January 1935 in Cambridge, England. He studied at the University of Edinburgh from 1871 to 1878. In 1878 he was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. He was professor of mechanical engineering at University of Tokyo from 1878 to 1883, where he studied earthquakes and magnetism. In 1881 he introduced the term "magnetic hysteresis." Ewing was professor of engineering at University College, Dundee, from 1883 to 1890. In 1887 he was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of London. He was professor of mechanism and applied mechanics at University of Cambridge from 1890 to 1903. From 1903 to 1916 he was director of naval education in Greenwich. He was knighted in 1911. From 1914 to 1917, during the war, he was in charge of code breaking. Ewing was principal and vice-chancellor of the University of Edinburgh from 1916 to 1929, when the cover photograph was probably taken.