Oughtred, William

Oughtred, William

▪ English mathematician
born March 5, 1574, Eton, Buckinghamshire, England
died June 30, 1660, Albury, Surrey

      English mathematician and Anglican (Anglicanism) minister who invented the earliest form of the slide rule, two identical linear or circular logarithmic (logarithm) scales held together and adjusted by hand. Improvements involving the familiar inner sliding rule came later.

      Oughtred was educated at Eton College and at King's College, Cambridge (Cambridge, University of), where he received his bachelor's degree (1596) and master's degree (1600). Before his ordainment as an Anglican priest in 1603 and appointment as vicar of Shalford in 1604, Oughtred had already designed (or improved upon) several instruments and composed various works that would be published much later. In 1610 he became rector of Albury, where he remained until his death.

      Oughtred was extremely generous in assisting anyone desirous of instruction in mathematics, refusing to accept any remuneration for such instruction. For more than five decades he tutored some of the better-known English mathematicians, such as John Wallis (Wallis, John), John Pell, and Seth Ward, as well as numerous teachers of mathematics and instrument-makers who practiced in London. In addition, he kept abreast of the mathematical sciences on the Continent, and either through correspondence or by word of mouth he assisted in the diffusion of French and Italian results among English practitioners.

      As a clergyman, Oughtred was reluctant to publish on mathematics. However, in 1631 he consented to allow the printing of a small manual that he had utilized in teaching one of his students. The book became famous under the title of Clavis Mathematicae (“The Key to Mathematics”), although it was not an easy text. It compressed much of contemporary European knowledge of arithmetic and algebra into less than 100 pages (in the first edition), while a somewhat obscure style and a penchant for excessive symbolism made the dense text even more challenging. Of the many symbols Oughtred introduced only two are still widely used, “×” for multiplication and “::” for proportion. Despite its difficulty, the book quickly became one of the most popular mathematics textbooks in 17th-century England. It was often reprinted both in Latin and in the vernacular, and it exerted a formative influence on, among others, the chemist Robert Boyle (Boyle, Robert) (1627–91), the architect Christopher Wren (Wren, Sir Christopher) (1632–1723), and the mathematician-physicist Isaac Newton (Newton, Sir Isaac) (1643–1727). Oughtred's other writings were published by his students much later, including Trigonometria (1657; “Trigonometry”) and a posthumous collection of tracts, Opuscula mathematica hactenus inedita (1677; “Unpublished Mathematical Papers”).

      Shortly after the publication of the Clavis Mathematicae, Oughtred became embroiled in a bitter priority dispute over instrument design. In the early 1620s, improving upon a logarithmic scale invented by Edmund Gunter (Gunter, Edmund), Oughtred designed the circular slide rule. However, in 1630 a former student of his and tutor to King Charles I (Charles I) of Great Britain, Richard Delamain, published a small pamphlet in which he claimed to have invented that instrument, and an acrimonious controversy ensued. Oughtred described his circular slide rule in Circles of Proportion and the Horizontal Instrument (1632), which, in addition to defending his reputation and priority during the controversy, addressed the important issue of the proper role of theory and instruments in the teaching of mathematics—a subject of continuing debate.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Oughtred , William — (1575–1660) English mathematician Oughtred was born at Eton and educated at the famous school there (where his father taught writing) and at Cambridge University. He was ordained a priest in 1603 and eventually became rector of Albury. Despite… …   Scientists

  • William Oughtred — (1575 1660). Born 5 March 157 …   Wikipedia

  • Oughtred — William Oughtred William Oughtred (* 5. März 1574 in Eton; † 30. Juni 1660 in Albury, Surrey) war ein englischer Mathematiker. Er wurde durch die Erfindung des Rechenschiebers im Jahre 1622 (nach anderen Quellen 1621) bekannt. Ferner führte er… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • William Oughtred — (* 5. März 1574 in Eton; † 30. Juni 1660 in Albury, Surrey) war ein englischer Mathematiker. Inhaltsverzeichnis …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • William Oughred — William Oughtred Portrait de William Oughtred William Oughtred est un mathématicien et théologien né à Eaton (Buckinghamshire) le 5 mars 1574, et mort à Albury, près de Gulford (comté de Surrey), le 30 juin …   Wikipédia en Français

  • William oughred — William Oughtred Portrait de William Oughtred William Oughtred est un mathématicien et théologien né à Eaton (Buckinghamshire) le 5 mars 1574, et mort à Albury, près de Gulford (comté de Surrey), le 30 juin …   Wikipédia en Français

  • William Oughtred — William Oughtred. William Oughtred (Nacido el 5 de Marzo de 1574 Eton, Buckinghamshire † 30 de Junio 1660 Albury, Surrey). Fue un ministro anglicano nacido en Inglaterra que se dedicó en vida a las Matemáticas, la Astronomía …   Wikipedia Español

  • William Jones (mathematicien) — William Jones (mathématicien) Pour les articles homonymes, voir William Jones. Sir William Jones (Llanfihangel Tw r Beird, Anglesey, Pays de Galles, 1675 – Londres, 3 juillet 1749) est un mathématicien gallois. Il jouit des patronages de la… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • William jones (mathématicien) — Pour les articles homonymes, voir William Jones. Sir William Jones (Llanfihangel Tw r Beird, Anglesey, Pays de Galles, 1675 – Londres, 3 juillet 1749) est un mathématicien gallois. Il jouit des patronages de la famille Bulkeley du nord du Pays …   Wikipédia en Français

  • William Jones (Mathematiker) — William Jones William Jones (* 1675 in Llanfihangel Tre r Beirdd, Anglesey, Wales; † 1. Juli 1749 in London) war ein walisischer Mathematiker, der 1706 als einer der Ersten (nach William Oughtred) das griechische Symbol π (P …   Deutsch Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”