You know how basket weaving always turns up during discussion of easy college courses? One of the great mathematicians of our time, especially for the subject of numerical methods, might have fallen victim to basket weaving had it not been for a rare celestial occasion.
Thomas Simpson, born on August 20, , in Market Bosworth, Leicestershire, England, was the son of a self-taught weaver. Simpsons father naturally expected his son to take up the same profession as his ol man. However, with the occurrence of a solar eclipse in , Thomas Simpson turned to mathematical interests, changing his life forever. After a little help mastering Cockers Arithmetic and the concepts of algebra, Simpson became an usher (the most distinguished of a group of itinerant lecturers who taught in the London coffee-houses), which greatly improved his mathematical skills. By , he was able to solve puzzles concerning infinitesimal calculus. In , he wrote the first of his mathematical texts, the first of two volumes of The Doctrine and Application of Fluxions (the second volume was finished and both volumes were published in ).
Not only did Simpson work o
Thomas Simpson
Citation styles
gives you the ability to cite reference entries and articles according to common styles from the Modern Language Association (MLA), The Chicago Manual of Style, and the American Psychological Association (APA).
Within the “Cite this article” tool, pick a style to see how all available information looks when formatted according to that style. Then, copy and paste the text into your bibliography or works cited list.
Because each style has its own formatting nuances that evolve over time and not all information is available for every reference entry or article, cannot guarantee each citation it generates. Therefore, it’s best to use citations as a starting point before checking the style against your school or publication’s requirements and the most-recent information available at these sites:
Notes:
- Most online reference entries and articles do not have page numbers. Therefore, that information is unavailable for most content. However, the date of retrieval is often important. Refer to each style’s convention regarding the best way to format page numbers and retrieval dates.
- In addition to the MLA, Chicago, and APA styles, your school,
Dictionary of National Biography, /Simpson, Thomas ()
SIMPSON, THOMAS (–), mathematician, born on 20Aug. at Market Bosworth, Leicestershire, was the son of a weaver. Thomas early evinced an aptitude for study, but, being discouraged by his father, left home and lodged at Nuneaton at the house of a widow named Swinfield, whom he married about His attention was turned to celestial phenomena by the solar eclipse of 11May , and the skill he soon acquired in astrology won him the sobriquet of ‘the oracle of Nuneaton, Bosworth, and the environs.’ A report that he had frightened a girl into fits by ‘raising the devil’ compelled him to flee to Derby. In or he came to London and worked as a weaver at Spitalfields, teaching mathematics in his spare time. In , with the sole assistance of Edmund Stone's translation of de L'Hôpital's ‘Analyse des infiniement petits,’ Simpson wrote ‘A new Treatise on Fluxions’ (London, 4to, published by subscription), which, although it contained many obscurities and defects due to the author's defective training, was nevertheless a notable contribution to the literature of the subject. He afterwards rewrote the treatise and published it in unde
.
Thomas Simpson (20 August – 14 May ) was a British mathematician, inventor and eponym of Simpson's rule to approximate definite integrals. The attribution, as often in mathematics, can be debated: this rule had been found years earlier by Johannes Kepler, and in German is the so-called Keplersche Fassregel.
BiographySimpson was born in Market Bosworth, Leicestershire. The son of a weaver,[1] Simpson taught himself mathematics, then turned to astrology after seeing a solar eclipse. He also dabbled in divination and caused fits in a girl after 'raising a devil' from her. After this incident, he and his wife had to flee to Derby [2]. They later moved to London.
From , he taught mathematics at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich.
Apparently, the method that became known as Simpson's rule was well known and used earlier by Bonaventura Cavalieri (a student of Galileo) in , later rediscovered by James Gregory, and was only attributed to Simpson.
In , Simpson was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
Works
* Treatise of Fluxions ()
* The Nature and Laws of Chance ()
Biographies you may also like
Thomas sidney cooper biography of christopher Thomas Sidney Cooper. - Cooper was an animal painter, who was encouraged by Abraham Cooper (no relation) and by Sir Thomas Lawrence. He studied at the Royal .
Apj abdul kalam full story in marathi माजी राष्ट्रपती Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Information in Marathi राष्ट्रपती म्हणुन निवृत्त झाल्यानंतर त्यांनी शिक्षकाची भूमिका स्वीकारली होती.
Actor kurt russell biography Actor Kurt Russell began his career as a juvenile performer appearing in television roles as well as a series of Disney live-action films.
Cammie mcgovern biography Follow Cammie McGovern and explore their bibliography from 's Cammie McGovern Author Page.
Dil ke arman salma agha biography Hasan Kamal was a popular Indian film lyricist in the s. He debuted in the film "Nikaah", directed by B. R. Chopra. It was also the comeback of prominent composer of the sixties, Ravi .
Chikako suzuki taro aso foreign Tarō Asō (麻生 太郎, Asō Tarō, born 20 September ) is a Japanese politician. He is a member of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. He was the 92nd Prime Minister of Japan. He .
Wgm key yagi arisa biography SHINee's Key will have a virtual marriage with Japanese model Yagi Arisa on the upcoming season 2 of "We Got Married Global Edition." Yagi Arisa was born in to a .
Viona ielegems biography of martin luther king At the age of thirty-five, Martin Luther King, Jr., was the youngest man to have received the Nobel Peace Prize. When notified of his selection, he announced that he would turn over the prize Missing: viona ielegems.