Ayrton, William Edward

Japanese: エアトン - Ａｙｒｔｏｎ，ＷｉｌｌｉａｍＥｄｗａｒｄ

Year of death: 1908.11.8 (1908.11.8)
Born: September 14, 1847
A foreigner employed in Japan during the Meiji period. British physicist and electrical engineer. Born in London. After graduating from University College, he engaged in research under Professor Thomson (Lord Kelvin) at the University of Glasgow. He worked in telegraph installation in Bombay for four years, and then worked for the Great Western Telegraph Company in Scotland, where he was recommended by Thomson to become a teacher employed by the Ministry of Public Works. He arrived in Japan in June 1873 (Meiji 6) and lectured on physics and telegraphy at the Engineering School, where he worked until 1878. He was known for his dedication to research, and on the day he was leaving Japan, he was instructing students in experiments until just before his departure, and rushed from the Imperial College of Engineering (University of Tokyo) in Toranomon to Shinbashi, but as the train had already departed, he immediately turned back and continued his experiments, and by the time he arrived in Hong Kong, he had organized the results and sent them from Suez to an academic society in London. During his stay in Japan, he collaborated with his colleague Perry and published more than 50 papers in academic journals in London. March 25th is Electricity Day, commemorating the day in 1881 when Ayrton lit an arc lamp to celebrate the opening ceremony of the Central Telegraph Office. His wife, Matilda, a female doctor, was also known as a Japanologist, having written Child Life in Japan and Japanese Children Stories (1879) during her stay in Japan. After returning to Japan in 1881, he established laboratory education at Finsbury Technical College and the Central Institution in London, making use of the model he had devised at the Imperial College of Engineering. These schools became the basis for today's Imperial College of Science and Technology. He held many important positions, including president of the College of Physics and president of the Institution of Electrical Engineers. His main work is Practical Electricity (1887). <References> Perry, J. William Edward Ayrton, Miyoshi Nobuhiro, "The Boomerang Phenomenon in the History of Educational Negotiations" (Education Science, No. 19)

(Nobuhiro Miyoshi)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：1908.11.8(1908.11.8)
生年：1847.9.14
明治期に来日したお雇い外国人。イギリス人物理学者,電気工学者。ロンドン生まれ。ユニバーシティ・カレッジを卒業後,グラスゴー大学のトムソン教授(ケルビン卿)のもとで研究に従事。ボンベイで4年間電信架設に携わり,さらにスコットランドのグレート・ウェスタン電信会社に勤務していたとき,トムソンのすすめで,工部省のお雇い教師となった。明治6(1873)年6月に来日し,工学寮で物理学と電信学を講義し,11年まで在職。研究熱心で有名であり,日本を去る日,出発直前まで学生の実験を指導し,虎の門の工部大学校(東大)から新橋に駆けつけたが汽車が出たあとであったため,直ちに引き返して実験を続け,香港に着くまでにその結果を整理してスエズからロンドンの学会にあててその成果を送ったというエピソードが伝えられている。滞日中,同僚のペリーと協力して50点以上の論文をロンドンの学会誌に発表した。3月25日の電気記念日は,11年のその日,中央電信局の開業式を祝うに当たりエアトンがアーク灯を点じたことにちなんでいる。妻で女医のマチルダも滞日中《Child Life in Japan and Japanese Children Stories》(1879)を著した日本研究者として知られている。 12年に帰国後は,ロンドンのフィンズベリー技術カレッジやセントラル・インスティテューションで実験室教育を創始し,工部大学校で考案したモデルを生かした。これらの学校は,今日のインペリアル科学技術カレッジの母体となった。物理学会長,電気技術者協会長など多くの要職にもついた。主著は《Practical Electricity》(1887)。<参考文献>Perry,J. 《William Edward Ayrton》,三好信浩「教育交渉史におけるブーメラン現象」(『教育科学』19号)

(三好信浩)

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