William Stanley Jevons, 1835–82: Utilitarianism and Economics

Jevons was born in Liverpool, the ninth child in a solid, unitarian middle-class family. His father was an iron merchant and engineer, whose firm’s bankruptcy placed the family in financial hardship from 1848. During the early 1850s Jevons attended University College, London, studying chemistry and mathematics, but without taking his degree. In 1853, he accepted appointment in the newly established Sydney Mint. He stayed in Australia for the five years from 1854 to 1859, developing an interest in the social sciences including economics. On his return to England, he completed his London degree (1860). He then unsuccessfully tried to earn his living from journalism and writing. In 1863 his academic career commenced with his appointment as general tutor at Owen College, Manchester. His work on logic and scientific method, as well as writings on applied economic questions (in particular, The Coal Question, 1865) brought him national recognition as an important scientist. In 1866 he became Professor of Political Economy at Owen College, in 1876 at University College, London. In 1872 he was elected Fellow of the Royal Society. He retired in 1880 to have more time for research and writing, an expectation cut short by his untimely death in a swimming accident in 1882.