Background
Dougall was born in June 1867 in Kippen, a small village near Stirling, Scotland. His father, a watchmaker and postmaster, had nine children, among whom John was the eldest.
Dougall was born in June 1867 in Kippen, a small village near Stirling, Scotland. His father, a watchmaker and postmaster, had nine children, among whom John was the eldest.
He was educated locally at Kippen School.
Two formulas are named Dougall"s formula after him: one for the sum of a 7F6 hypergeometric series, and another for the sum of a bilateral hypergeometric series. He left school at age 13 to become a post office worker, but a year later entered Glasgow University, from which he earned an Master of Arts in 1886. He died on 24 February 1960 in Glasgow.
His proposers were George Alexander Gibson, Sir Edmund Taylor Whittaker, Cargill Gilston Knott, and James Gordon Gray.
He frequently published mathematical works in the proceedings and transactions of these two societies. He was also an honorary president of the Glasgow Mathematical Association, and in 1936 he followed Albert Einstein as Gibson Lecturer at Glasgow University.
At Blackie and Son, Dougall oversaw the publication of many advanced mathematics books, not only from English authors but also translations from writings in German and Italian by Richard Courant, Konrad Knopp, Tullio Levi-Civita, Vito Volterra, and others Dougall"s own contributions to mathematics include works on Bessel functions, Mathieu functions, hypergeometric series, and the Schläfli double six.
He died at home, 47 Airthrey Avenue in Glasgow on 25 February 1960.
Dougall became a member of the Edinburgh Mathematical Society in 1885, and was president of the society for 1925–1926.