ABSTRACT
There were obvious and mundane reasons for Fleeming Jenkin to be attracted to the Edinburgh chair of engineering. He was relieved to quit a dingy London office associated with so many disappointments and frustrations, in favour of the Scottish capital where he had spent happy childhood years. Jenkin's brief attachment to University College London had not been unproductive, and led him towards the Edinburgh post. Jenkin had also started lecturing on telegraphy and electrical measurement at the Royal Engineer Establishment in Chatham. Jenkin's appointment was made by a committee consisting of six of Edinburgh's thirty four professors – John Wilson, Robert Christison, P. G. Tait, Alexander Campbell Fraser, William Young Sellar and Lyon Playfair – and attended by Sir David Baxter. As Jenkin's only contractual obligation was to teach during the winter session, which ran from November to April, the northern hemisphere's summer cable-laying season was conveniently free for consultancy work.
