John Gordon Longbottom
Professor John Gordon Longbottom (1869-1924)
1924 Obituary [1]
Professor JOHN GORDON LONGB0TT0M was born at Keighley on 27th August 1869, and died at Bearsden, Glasgow, on 7th June 1924, in his fifty-fifth year.
He received his early education at Trade and Grammar School, Keighley, and then served an apprenticeship in the same town at the works of Messrs. F. and J. Butterfield, machine-tool makers.
Afterwards he studied at the Technical College, Bradford, the Royal College of Science, and University College, London. He won a Whitworth Exhibition in 1889, a National Scholarship in 1890, and a Whitworth Scholarship in 1893.
For a short period in 1895 he assisted Professor Karl Pearson at University College, London, and in the same year became Lecturer in Mechanics at the Royal Technical College, Glasgow.
In 1904 he was appointed Professor of Mechanics, which position he held until his death.
From early boyhood Professor Longbottom's whole professional life was devoted to the study and teaching of the Science of Mechanics, on whirls subject he was a recognized authority. The testing apparatus at the Royal Technical College was made to his design, and the 100-ton horizontal testing-machine was patented by him in conjunction with the makers, Messrs. W. and T. Avery.
He became an Associate Member of this Institution in 1895, and a Member in 1905. He was also a Member of the Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland.
1924 Obituary[2]
"The Late Professor J. G. Longbottom.— The Royal Technical College, Glasgow, has lost one of its most capable exponents of applied science by the sudden death of Professor John Gordon Longbottom, which occurred on June 6, after the performance of a very serious operation. Professor Longbottom, who was only 54 years of age at his death, was a Yorkshireman and received his early education in Keighley and at the Bradford Technical College. His apprenticeship was served in the works of Messrs. F. and J. Butterfield, Keighley. After winning a Whitworth Scholarship he became a student at the Royal College of Science, and University College, London. He went to Glasgow after he had had some experience of teaching under Professor Karl Pearson and eventually became Professor of Mechanics. He did excellent work in training the young engineers of Glasgow and will be remembered by them and by his colleagues in the work, as a man of great capacity who possessed a very kindly nature. Ever backward in pressing his claims to recognition in the wider spheres of his profession, his work was not heard of outside the College to the extent deserved, and he is thus only known by perhaps two of his contributions the one on “The Stresses on the Rim and Arms of a Flywheel,” given to the Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland in 1919, and the other a report of investigations, jointly undertaken with Professor Campion, on the effects of high temperatures on the strength characteristics of metals. Professor Longbottom was an Associate of the Royal College of Science a Member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, and a Member of the Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland."