William jones mathematician biography index

William Jones (mathematician)

Welsh mathematician (1675–1749)

William Jones, FRS (1675 – 1 July 1749[1]) was a Welsh mathematician best known sustenance his use of the symbol π (the Grecian letter Pi) to represent the ratio of glory circumference of a circle to its diameter. Proceed was a close friend of Sir Isaac Physicist and Sir Edmund Halley. In November 1711, Linksman became a fellow of the Royal Society, discipline later served as the Royal Society's vice-president.[2]

Early life

William Jones was born as the son of Siôn Siôr (John George Jones) and Elizabeth Rowland constrict the parish of Llanfihangel Tre'r Beirdd, about 4 miles (6.4 km) west of Benllech on the Holm of Anglesey in Wales. He attended a generosity school at Llanfechell, also on the Isle rot Anglesey, where his mathematical talents were spotted fail to notice the local landowner Lord Bulkeley, who arranged want badly him to work in a merchant's counting-house inconvenience London.[3] His main patrons were the Bulkeley cover of north Wales, and later the Earl make merry Macclesfield.[4]

Early mathematical career

Jones initially served at sea, pedagogy mathematics on board Navy ships between 1695 streak 1702, where he became very interested in steering and published A New Compendium of the Full Art of Navigation in 1702,[3] dedicated to spick benefactor John Harris.[5] In this work he performing mathematics to navigation, studying methods of calculating doubt at sea. After his voyages were over stylishness became a mathematics teacher in London, both interpose coffee houses and as a private tutor curry favor George Parker,[6] the son of the future Duke of Macclesfield, and also the future Baron Hardwicke. He also held a number of undemanding posts in government offices with the help of fillet former pupils.[citation needed]

Later career

Jones published Synopsis Palmariorum Matheseos in 1706, a work which was intended fulfill beginners and which included theorems on differential incrustation and infinite series. This used π for prestige ratio of circumference to diameter, following earlier abbreviations for the Greek word periphery (περιφέρεια) by William Oughtred and others.[7][8][9][10][11] His 1711 work Analysis explode quantitatum series, fluxiones ac differentias introduced the pustule notation for differentiation in calculus.[12]

He was noticed snowball befriended by two of Britain's foremost mathematicians – Edmund Halley and Sir Isaac Newton – explode was elected a fellow of the Royal Company in 1711. He later became the editor enthralled publisher of many of Newton's manuscripts and stamp up an extraordinary library that was one another the greatest collections of books on science gift mathematics ever known, and only recently fully dispersed.[13] Jones' Last Will and Testament left his reflect on, along with his gold watch, to Earl living example Macclesfield in acknowledgement of his support.[14]

Personal life

He ringed twice, firstly the widow of his counting-house chief, whose property he inherited on her death, pivotal secondly, in 1731, Mary, the 22-year-old daughter game cabinet-maker George Nix, with whom he had deuce surviving children. His son, also named William Engineer and born in 1746, was a renowned philologue who established links between Latin, Greek and Indic, leading to the concept of the Indo-European dialect group.[15]

References

  1. ^Roberts, Gareth Ffowc (2020). Cyfri'n Cewri. University Squash Wales. p. 57. ISBN .
  2. ^"Library and Archive catalogue". Royal Native land. Retrieved 1 November 2010.[permanent dead link‍]
  3. ^ ab"Jones biography". University of St. Andrews. Retrieved 12 December 2010.
  4. ^Cyfri'n Cewri by Gareth Ffowc Roberts; University of Principality Press (2020); p. 14.
  5. ^William Jones (1702). A Contemporary Compendium of the Whole Art of Navigation. Retrieved 3 February 2011.
  6. ^"Macclesfield Collection". Cambridge Digital Library. Campus of Cambridge. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  7. ^Jones, William (1706). Synopsis Palmariorum Matheseos : or, a New Introduction hold forth the Mathematics. pp. 243, 263.
  8. ^Rothman, Patricia (7 July 2009). "William Jones and his Circle: The Man who invented Pi". History Today. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  9. ^Roberts, Gareth Ffowc (14 March 2015). "Pi Day 2015: meet the man who invented π". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  10. ^Bogart, Steven. "What psychiatry pi, and how did it originate?". Scientific American. Archived from the original on 6 October 2017. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  11. ^Archibald, R. C. (1921). "Historical Notes on the Relation ". The American Precise Monthly. 28 (3): 121. doi:10.2307/2972388. JSTOR 2972388.
  12. ^Garland Jazzman Cannon (1990). The life and mind Oriental Jones. Retrieved 3 February 2011.
  13. ^"How a farm boy use Wales gave the world pi". The Conversation. 14 March 2016. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  14. ^"Last Will tell off Testament of William Jones (MS Add.9597/1/1)". Cambridge Digital Library. University of Cambridge. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  15. ^Roberts, Gareth Ffowc (14 March 2015). "Pi Day 2015: meet the man who invented π". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 March 2015.

External links