Theory of Pol itical Economy

William Stanley Jevons (1835-1882) English economist and logicianwas one of three men to simultaneously advance the socalledmarginal revolution. Jevons' work The Theory of PoliticalEconomy (1871) along with similar discoveries made by CarlMenger in Vienna (1871) and by Léon Walras in Switzerland(1874) marked the opening of a new period in the history ofeconomic thought. Jevons studied chemistry and botany at UniversityCollege London. Because of the bankruptcy of his father's business in 1847 Jevons left school to take up the position of assayer at the Mint in Sydney Australia. Returning to England in 1859 he published General Mathematical Theory of Political Economy and in 1863 Pure Logic wherein he improved thesymbolic logic schema pioneered by George Boole and his teacher Augustus De Morgan. Three years later he was appointed Professor of Logic and Philosophy at Owens College Manchester and in 1876 he was glad to exchange the Owensprofessorship for the professorship of political economy in University College London