Background
Dionysius Lardner was born at Dublin on the 3rd of April, 1793. His father, a solicitor, wished his son to follow the same calling.
Dionysius Lardner was born at Dublin on the 3rd of April, 1793. His father, a solicitor, wished his son to follow the same calling.
After some years of uncongenial desk work, Lardner entered Trinity College, Dublin, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1817.
In 1828 Dionysius Lardner became professor of natural philosophy and astronomy at University College, London, a position he held till 1840, when he eloped with a married lady, and had to leave the country.
As a scientific populariser and editor, Dionysius Lardner's greatest achievement was probably the Cabinet Cyclopaedia, 133 vols (1829-49), which included numerous distinguished contributors. Only Railway Economy from amongst his many writings is a contribution to economics. In this work he examined various economic questions both mathematically and graphically in a way which Jevons acknowledged as an influence on his own thinking. This included hints of a profit-maximising theory of the firm and an account of monopoly price discrimination.
In 1840 Lardner eloped with a married lady, and had to leave the country.