John Dougall

Who was John Dougall?

John Dougall was "one of Scotland's leading mathematicians". Two formulas are named Dougall's formula after him: one for the sum of a ₇F₆ hypergeometric series, and another for the sum of a bilateral hypergeometric series.

Dougall was born in June 1867 in Kippen, a small village near Stirling, Scotland; his father, a watchmaker and postmaster, had nine children, among whom John was the eldest. He left school at age 13 to become a post office worker, but a year later entered Glasgow University, from which he earned an M.A. in 1886. After graduating, he taught mathematics at the Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College before becoming an editor and translator of mathematical publications for Blackie and Son, a Glasgow publisher. He died on February 24, 1960, in Glasgow.

Dougall became a member of the Edinburgh Mathematical Society in 1885, and was president of the society for 1925–1926. He won the Makdougall-Brisbane Prize of the Royal Society of Edinburgh for 1902–1904, and was elected to the society in 1921. He frequently published mathematical works in the proceedings and transactions of these two societies.