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]

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The three alchemical pillars of modern science

Posted on August 29, 2011 by

Just a thought.

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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