John Colson
John Colson | |
|---|---|
 John Colson by John Wollaston | |
| Born | 1680 |
| Died | 20 January 1760 (aged 79–80) |
| Nationality | British |
| Alma mater | Christ Church, Oxford |
| Known for | Signed-digit representation |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Mathematics |
| Institutions | University of Cambridge |
John Colson FRS (1680 – 20 January 1760) was an English clergyman, mathematician, and the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University.
Life
[edit]John Colson was educated at Lichfield School before becoming an undergraduate at Christ Church, Oxford, though he did not complete a degree there. He became a schoolmaster at Sir Joseph Williamson's Mathematical School in Rochester, and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1713. He was Vicar of Chalk, Kent from 1724 to 1740. He relocated to Cambridge and lectured at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge.[1] From 1739 to 1760, he was Lucasian Professor of Mathematics. He was also Rector of Lockington, Yorkshire.[2]
Works
[edit]In 1726 he published his "Negativo-Affirmativo Arithmetik" , which advocated a modified decimal system of numeration.[3] He proposed "reduction [to] small figures" by "throwing all the large figures out of a given number, and introducing in their room the equivalent small figures respectively". This method of signifying numbers is now called signed-digit representation.[4]
John Colson translated several of Isaac Newton's works into English, including De Methodis Serierum et Fluxionum in 1736.[1]
See also
[edit]Notes
[edit]- ^ a b Cooper 1887.
- ^ "Colson, John (CL728J2)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
- ^ John Colson (1726) "A Short Account of Negativo-Affirmativo Arithmetik", Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society 34:161–73. Available as Early Journal Content from JSTOR
- ^ Cajori, Florian (1993) [1928-1929]. A History of Mathematical Notations. Dover Publications. p. 57. ISBN 978-0486677668.
References
[edit]- Cooper, Thompson (1887). . In Stephen, Leslie (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 11. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 405–406.
- Robert Bruen (2008). "Lucasian Chair: John Colson". Lucasian Chair.org. Cambridge University. Archived from the original on 29 December 2007. Retrieved 2 April 2008.
- "A Brief History of The Lucasian Professorship of Mathematics at Cambridge University" – Robert Bruen, Boston College, May 1995
External links
[edit]
Media related to John Colson at Wikimedia Commons
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