GALLOWAY, THOMAS, a distinguished Scottish mathematician, was born at Symington in the upper ward of Lanarkshire, 26th February 1796. After receiving such education as the best schools of his own and some adjoining parishes could give, he removed in 1812 to Edinburgh, at the university of which city he distinguished himself, especially in the department of mathematical study. In 1823 he was appointed one of the teachers of mathematics at the military college of Sandhurst. On the death of Sir John Leslie in 1832, Galloway applied for the vacant chair of natural philosophy in Edinburgh, and was one of the three candidates among whom the chances of success ultimately lay. He was not the successful competitor; but in the following year was appointed actuary to the Amicable Life Assurance Office, the oldest institution of that kind in London. In this situation Galloway remained till his death, November 1, 1851.
Galloway was a voluminous though for the most part an anonymous writer, and took a leading part in the proceedings of the principal scientific societies of London. He contributed largely to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, and other works of a similar nature. Some of his more elaborate treatises, such as that on Probability, have been published separately. His contributions to the Edinburgh and Foreign Quarterly Reviews, like the rest of his writings, display extensive erudition, great soundness of judgment, and fine powers of critical analysis.