The David Elder Lecture originated in 1904 as a result of an endowment of 5,000 pounds -- a lot of money in those days -- made by Mrs. Isabella Elder (nee Ure), Doctor of Laws, to the Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College, later to become part of the University of Strathclyde. The scope of the endowment is the maintenance of "Lectures of Descriptive Astronomy" (to be known as the David Elder Lectures) in memory of David Elder, the Father of her late husband, John Elder. Both John and his father David were outstanding Glasgow engineers. Of John it has been said: "Perhaps no greater loss ever befell the leading industry of the Clyde than the premature death of John Elder in 1869"; and Mr. John Napier, in a paper read before the Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Glasgow in 1866, referred to John's distinguished father, David, in the following terms: "The history of so remarkable a man as David Elder must be interesting to many, on account of his connection with works which have made Glasgow and the Clyde notable, and given to his employer (Robert Napier) a fame which is known over the whole engineering world". He goes on: "David Elder was born in Little Seggie, near Kinross in 1785. From his earliest years, he evinced a genius for mathematical studies, and continued to master, without assistance, Simson's Euclid and a separate work on Algebra, translated from the French, which he walked 18 miles to procure. He studied the principles of mechanics and hydraulics by watching the workings of old water-wheels in the surrounding mills. In 1817, he came to Glasgow to practice as a mechanical engineer and millwright. His energy and ingenuity speedily procured his advancement, and he achieved considerable fame as an inventor and design engineer with Robert Napier's famous engineering work in Glasgow".

In fact, David Elder was, and is, regarded as the father of marine engineering on the Clyde, and if you are interested you can find much more fascinating information in the volumes entitled "Memories and Portraits of 100 Glasgow Men".

For more information about the remarkable life of Isabella Elder and her contributions to Higher Education in Glasgow, see her excellent biography "The Lady of Claremont House: Isabella Elder, pioneer and philantropist" by Joan McAlpine, Argyll Publishing, Glendaruel, 1997 (ISBN 1 874640 97 1).

The first series of David Elder Lectures was given in 1905/06 at the Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College, one of the forerunners of the present University of Strathclyde. A list of the distinguished lecturers throughout the present century is, unfortunately, not available.

Since the early seventies, the David Elder Lecture has been organised by the Department of Physics and Applied Physics of the University of Strathclyde. David Elder Lectures have been organised more or less erratically in time depending on the fluctuations of the endowment fund due to oscillations in theinterest rates. In September 1994, Prof. Gian-Luca Oppo has been appointed by the Head of the Department of Physics and Applied Physics as the organiser of the David Elder Lectures. Recent speakers include Prof. Heather Cooper in 1994 ("ET -- Please Phone Earth"), Prof. Steven Miller in 1995 ("The Great Crash of 1994: Comet Shoemaker-Levy-9's Fatal Encounter with Jupiter") and Prof. Carl Murray in 1997 ("Chaotic Clockwork: Order and Disorder in the Solar System").