up with A Treatise on the Analytical Dynamics of Particles and Rigid Bodies just two years later in 1904. In September of that year, Whittaker was forced to sell six silver forks at an auction to pay back taxes which he had previously refused to pay due to the 1902 Education Act requiring citizens to pay taxes to fund local Christian schools, such as the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England. Prior to being compelled by a magistrate to repay the tax burden, Whittaker was one of several activists who engaged in passive resistance by refusing to pay the taxes. In 1905, Whittaker was elected as a fellow of the Royal Society in recognition of his achievements. Trinity College, Dublin In 1906, Whittaker was appointed Andrews Professor of Astronomy at Trinity College Dublin, which came with the title Royal Astronomer of Ireland. He succeeded Charles Jasper Joly at the post and was appointed upon recommendation from the astronomer Robert Stawell Ball. Ball's recommendation, which was published in a collection of his letters in 1915, stated that Whittaker was the only person he knew who could "properly succeed Joly" and that the role would "suit him in every way". He then describes Whittaker as "modest" and "charming" and as "a man who has infinite capacity for making things go". Ball said Whittaker was a world leading expert in theoretical astronomy and that, in relation to Whittaker's discovery of a general solution to Laplace's equation, notes that he "has already made one discovery which the greatest mathematician of the last two centuries would be proud to have placed to his credit". The Royal Astronomers acted as directors for the Dunsink Observatory, which used outdated astronomy equipment; it was understood that the primary responsibility of the role was to teach mathematical physics at Trinity College. During this time, the relative leisure of his post allowed him to complete the reading required to write his third major book A History of the Theories of Aether and Electricity, from the age of Descartes to the close of the nineteenth century. Also during this time, he wrote the book The Theory of Optical Instruments, published six astronomy papers, and published collected astronomical observations. University of Edinburgh Whittaker became Professor of Mathematics at the University of Edinburgh in January 1912, where he remained for the rest of his career. The role was left vacant by