Hathaway studied with James Joseph Sylvester at Johns Hopkins University.
In October 1884 William Thomson, Baron Kelvin led a master class on "Molecular Dynamics and the Wave Theory of Light" at Johns Hopkins.
As the demand outstripped the supply, Hathaway corresponded with Kelvin back in Glasgow to prepare for proper publication.
[2] In 1987 Hathaway's original transcription from 1884 was published when Johns Hopkins Center for the History and Philosophy of Science decided to commemorate the centennial of Kelvin's lectures.
[3] In Terre Haute, Indiana Hathaway taught at Rose Polytechnic Institute until 1920 and published A Primer on Quaternions in 1896.