William Farish (chemist)

Farish himself was educated at Carlisle Grammar School, entered Magdalene College, Cambridge, as a sizar in 1774, and graduated Senior Wrangler and first in Smith's Prize in 1778.

At Cambridge University, according to Hilkens (1967), Farish was "the first man to teach the construction of machines as a subject in its own right instead of merely using mechanisms as examples to illustrate the principles of theoretical physics or applied mathematics.

In order to explain how these models were to be assembled he had developed a drawing technique, which he called "Isometrical Perspective".

[13] In the 1822 paper "On Isometrical Perspective" Farish recognized the "need for accurate technical working drawings free of optical distortion.

[14] De Stijl architects like Theo van Doesburg used "axonometry for their architectural designs, which caused a sensation when exhibited in Paris in 1923".