A native of Keith, Bamffshire, whilst yet very young, without the advantages of education, exhibited a remarkable genius for mechanical and astronomical investigations. Whilst employed in the humble capacity of a shepherd, he continued his studies with untiring zeal. In 1743 he came to London, where he attracted great attention by the publication of astronomical tables, and the delivery of lectures, repeated in many towns in England, on experimental philosophy. A list of his publications and contributions to Phil. Trans. will be found in Bibl. Brit. Works, edited by Sir David Brewster, Edinburgh, 5 vols. 8vo. “Lectures on select Subjects in Mechanics, Hydrostatics, &c.,” edited by Sir D. B., 2 vols. 8vo. “Astronomy explained upon Sir Isaac Newton’s principles,” 1821, 2 vols. 8vo. New ed., 1841, 2 vols. 8vo.

Personal

  The best machine I ever contrived is the Eclipsareon, of which there is a figure in the thirteenth plate of my “Astronomy.” It shows the time, quantity, duration, and progress of solar eclipses, at all parts of the earth. My next best contrivance is the Universal Dialing Cylinder, of which there is a figure in the eighth plate of the supplement to my “Mechanical Lectures.” It is now thirty years since I came to London; and during all that time, I have met with the instances of friendship from all ranks of people, both in town and country, which I do here acknowledge with the utmost respect and gratitude; and particularly the goodness of our present gracious Sovereign, who, out of his privy purse, allows me fifty pounds a year, which is regularly paid without any deduction.

  Mr. Ferguson had a very sedate appearance, face and brow a little wrinkled; he wore a large full stuff wig, which gave him a venerable look, and made him to appear older than he really was. He usually wore a white neckerchief, especially when delivering his lectures. His coat had no neck, was of large dimensions, reaching down below the knee, and coming full round in front; was decorated with large buttons, and of course had the usual huge pockets and double folded-up sleeves fenced with shirt wrist ruffles. His waistcoat was also large; had likewise no neck; large pockets; and reached down to near his thighs. He wore knee breeches, generally of black velvet, or plush, and fastened at the knee with silver buckles; generally wore black stockings, full shoes with buckles. When walking about he wore the cocked hat of that day slightly trimmed with lace; and, in these, the latter days of his life, he walked about with the aid of a staff.

  Among self-educated men there are few who claim more of our admiration than the celebrated James Ferguson. If ever any one was literally his own instructor in the very elements of knowledge, it was he. Acquisitions that have scarcely in any other case, and probably never by one so young, been made without the assistance either of books or a living teacher, were the discoveries of his solitary and almost illiterate boyhood. There are few more interesting narratives in any language than the account which Ferguson himself has given of his early history.

  Ferguson was a man of very clear judgment, and of unwearied application to study; benevolent, meek, and innocent in his manners as a child; humble, courteous, and communicative. His religious character gave the tone to his general conduct. The anxieties and changes of his chequered life never effaced the religious impressions early produced by the piety of his parents, but rather strengthened his confidence towards God, and his belief in the great doctrines of our most holy faith. A lovely character was his, according to the testimony of all who knew him.

General

  Mr. Ferguson may in some degree be regarded as the first elementary writer on Natural Philosophy, and to his labours we must attribute that general diffusion of scientific knowledge among the practical mechanics of this country, which has in a great measure banished those antiquated prejudices and erroneous manners of construction that perpetually misled the unlettered artist. But it is not merely to the praise of a popular writer that Mr. Ferguson is entitled; while he is illustrating the discoveries of others, and accommodating them to the capacities of his readers, we are frequently introduced to inventions and improvements of his own; many of these are well known to the public; and while some of them have been of great service to experimental philosophy, they all evince a considerable share of mechanical genius. To a still higher commendation, however, our author may justly lay claim; it has long been fashionable with a certain class of philosophers to keep the Creator totally out of view when describing the noblest of his works. But Mr. Ferguson has not imbibed those gloomy principles which steel the heart against its earliest and strongest impressions, and prompt to suppress those feelings of devotion and gratitude which the structure and harmony of the universe are so fitted to inspire. When benevolence and design are particularly exhibited in the works or in the phenomena of nature, he dwells with delight upon the goodness and wisdom of their Author; and never fails to impress upon the reader, what is apt to escape his notice, that the wonders of creation, and the various changes which the material world displays, are the result of that unerring wisdom and boundless goodness which are unceasingly exerted for the comfort and happiness of man.

  The faculties of distinct apprehension and luminous exposition belonged, indeed, to Ferguson in a pre-eminent degree. He doubtless owed his superiority here in a great measure to the peculiar manner in which he had been obliged to acquire his knowledge. Nothing that he had learned had been set him as a task. He had applied himself to whatever subject of study engaged his attention, simply from the desire and with the view of understanding it. All that he knew, therefore, he knew thoroughly, and not by rote merely, as many things are learned by those who have no higher object than to master the task of the day. On the other hand, as has often happened in the case of self-educated men, the want of a regular director of his studies had left him ignorant of many departments of knowledge in which, had he been introduced to them, he was probably admirably adapted to distinguish himself, and from which he might have drawn, at all events, the most valuable assistance in the prosecution of his favorite investigations.

  Ferguson’s “Astronomy explained on Sir Isaac Newton’s Principles” was published in July, 1756, and met with immediate and complete success. The first issue was exhausted in a year: the thirteenth edition, revised by Brewster, appeared in 1811, and the demand for successive reprints did not cease until ten years later. It was translated into Swedish and German, and long excluded other treatises on the same subject. Although containing no theoretical novelty, the manner and method of its expositions were entirely original. Astronomical phenomena were for the first time described in familiar language. The book formed Herschel’s introduction to celestial science…. Ferguson’s great merit as a scientific teacher lay in clearness, both of thought and style, and in the extreme ingenuity with which by means of machines and diagrams he brought the eye to help the mind of the learner. Hutton recognized his “vary uncommon genius, especially in mechanical contrivances and executions.” Brewster considered him as “in some degree the first elementary writer on natural philosophy.”