Editing Colin Maclaurin (section)

==Academic career==
At eleven, Maclaurin, a child prodigy at the time, entered the [[University of Glasgow]]. He graduated [[Master of Arts]] three years later by defending a thesis on ''the Power of Gravity,'' and remained at Glasgow to study [[Divinity (academic discipline)|divinity]] until he was 19, when he was elected professor of [[mathematics]] in a ten-day competition at [[Marischal College]] and University in Aberdeen. This record as the world's youngest professor endured until March 2008, when the record was officially given to [[Alia Sabur]].<ref name="theind">{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/university-appoints-child-prodigy-worlds-youngest-professor-818776.html|title=University appoints world's youngest professor|newspaper=The Independent|author=David McNeill|date=1 May 2008}}</ref>

In the vacations of 1719 and 1721, Maclaurin went to London, where he became acquainted with [[Isaac Newton]], [[Benjamin Hoadly (physician)|Benjamin Hoadly]], [[Samuel Clarke]], [[Martin Folkes]], and other philosophers. He was admitted as a member of the [[Royal Society]].

In 1722, having provided a locum for his class at Aberdeen, he travelled on the Continent as tutor to George Hume, the son of [[Alexander Hume, 2nd Earl of Marchmont]]. During their time in [[Duchy of Lorraine|Lorraine]], he wrote his essay on the percussion of bodies (''Demonstration des loix du choc des corps''), which gained the prize of the [[French Academy of Sciences|Royal Academy of Sciences]] in 1724. Upon the death of his pupil at [[Montpellier]], Maclaurin returned to Aberdeen.

In 1725, Maclaurin was appointed deputy to the mathematical professor at the [[University of Edinburgh]], James Gregory (brother of [[David Gregory (mathematician)|David Gregory]] and nephew of the esteemed [[James Gregory (astronomer and mathematician)|James Gregory]]), upon the recommendation of [[Isaac Newton]]. On 3 November of that year Maclaurin succeeded Gregory, and went on to raise the character of that university as a school of science. Newton was so impressed with Maclaurin that he had offered to pay his salary himself.