Williamson was born in Mallow, County Cork, son of the Rev Benjamin Williamson. He attended Kilkenny College. At TCD he was awarded BA (1849) and MA (1855), having become a Fellow in 1852. He was Donegall Lecturer in Mathematics (1876–1884), and then Professor of Natural Philosophy (1884–1890).[1][2] TCD awarded him a DSc (1891) and Oxford a DCL (1892). He later became vice provost of TCD (1908), and died in Dublin.[citation needed]
His two calculus books were very popular and ran into many editions over the 40 years following their publication.[3]
Books
1872 An Elementary Treatise on the Differential Calculus, Containing the Theory of Plane Curves, With Numerous Examples
1874 An Elementary Treatise on the Integral Calculus, containing applications to plane curves and surfaces
1884 An Elementary Treatise on Dynamics, containing applications to thermodynamics, with numerous examples (co-written with F. A. Tarleton)
1894 An Introduction to the Mathematical Theory of Stress and Strain of Elastic Solids
