Monthly Archives: August 2011

The day that Francis died: Taking Isaac down a peg or two.

Posted on August 30, 2011 by

The eminent London stockbroker Francis Baily died aged 70 on 30th August 1844. What did a Victorian stockbroker have to do with John Flamsteed and Isaac Newton? [To find out read here]

| Leave a comment

The three alchemical pillars of modern science

Posted on August 29, 2011 by

Just a thought.

| Leave a comment

The day that Jonas died

Posted on August 25, 2011 by

Even fairly ardent scholars of 17th century mathematics are unlikely to have heard of Jonas Moore who died on 25th August 1679. There is no Moore’s theorem or algorithm no branch of mathematics that counts him amongst its founders or greatest developers, … Continue reading →

Posted in astronomy, History, Institutions, mathematics | Leave a comment

Cobbler stick to thy last

Posted on August 22, 2011 by

If you are a regular reader of my outpourings you can skip this post, as I shan’t be saying anything that you’ve not already read, probably more than once, because we’re back to the topic of astronomy, cosmology, Galileo and … Continue reading →

Posted in astronomy, History | Leave a comment

The Irish Pre-famine Population

Posted on August 22, 2011 by

A couple of days ago I posted on Ken Connell, the Irish economic and social historian whose conclusions about the Irish population before the Great Famine remains influential and controversial.  I posted a longer piece on the topic at 3quarksdaily…  … Continue reading →

| Leave a comment

Politics and mathematics

Posted on August 20, 2011 by

Jan de Witt was not only a leading European politician but also a member of a group of prominent Dutch Cartesian mathematicians.  I find this fascinating; just imagine a combination of David Cameron and Marcus du Sautoy, the mind boggles! … Continue reading →

Posted in History, mathematics | 1 Comment

Professor K H Connell (1917-1973) and Irish Pre-Famine Population Statistics

Posted on August 20, 2011 by

I have been spending a good bit of the past week thinking about Irish pre-famine population statistics.  I am hoping it will be a good case-study for students in the coming months as teaching gets going again.  I will also … Continue reading →

| Leave a comment

The Giant’s Shoulders #38 – a Georgian Special

Posted on August 16, 2011 by

The latest edition of The Giant’s Shoulders history of science blog carnival is now up at the Longitude Project Blog. Enjoy!

| Leave a comment

Upon reflection: The Hadley brothers

Posted on August 15, 2011 by

This is not a post about a circus act, a Canadian punk band or a boy band from Tulsa, Oklahoma.  John (1682 – 1744), George (1685 – 1768) and Henry Hadley (1697 – 1771) were three mathematical inclined gentleman scholars … Continue reading →

Posted in astronomy, History | Leave a comment

“arXiv at 20″ in Nature

Posted on August 11, 2011 by

In the latest Nature, Paul Ginsparg reflects on the history of, and intentions behind arXiv, the internet-based preprint distribution system used mainly by physicists.  The arXiv resource is, of course, a topic of much interest to anyone interested in the … Continue reading →

| 1 Comment