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Wilkins Circle
The Oxford Philosophical Club refers to a group of natural philosophers, mathematicians, physicians, virtuosi and dilettanti gathering around John Wilkins FRS (1614–1672) at Oxford in the period 1649 to 1660. It is documented in particular by John Aubrey: he refers to it as an "experimental philosophical club" run weekly by Wilkins, who successfully bridged the political divide of the times. There is surviving evidence that the Club was formally constituted, and undertook some projects in Oxford libraries. Its historical importance is that members formed one of the major groups that came together in the early 1660s to form the Royal Society of London. Wilkins was Warden of Wadham College, and the circle around him is also known as the Wadham Group, though it was not restricted to members of the College. It included William Petty, Jonathan Goddard and John Wallis from the 1645 group in London. The term Oxford Philosophical Society may refer to this club, or at least two later ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Walter Pope
Walter Pope (''c.'' 1627 – 1714) was an English astronomer and poet. He was the son of Francis Pope and Jane Dod, daughter of the Puritan minister John Dod. He was born in Northamptonshire and was the half brother of John Wilkins, who would become bishop of Chester and one of the founders of the Royal Society. He was educated at Wadham College, Oxford, with a BA in 1649, MA in 1651. Until the Restoration, he worked in Wadham College. In 1660, he became the professor of astronomy at Gresham College in London, taking over for Sir Christopher Wren, and he was also appointed Dean of Wadham College. He became one of the earliest members of the Royal Society, and he was also made the registrar of the diocese of Chester. During the 1660s, he was active in the Royal Society, with two letters published in ''Philosophical Transactions'' in 1665 and 1666. He traveled to France and Italy and reported for the Royal Society from Italy. In 1686, he developed a severe eye infection, and he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lisa Jardine
Lisa Anne Jardine (née Bronowski; 12 April 1944 – 25 October 2015) was a British historian of the early modern period. From 1990 to 2011, she was Centenary Professor of Renaissance Studies and Director of the Centre for Editing Lives and Letters at Queen Mary University of London. From 2008 to January 2014 she was Chair of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA). Jardine was a Member of Council of the Royal Institution, until 2009. On 1 September 2012, she relocated with her research centre and staff to University College London (UCL) to become founding director of its Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in the Humanities. Education and personal life Jardine was born on 12 April 1944 in Oxford, the eldest of four daughters of mathematician and polymath, Jacob Bronowski, and the sculptor, Rita Coblentz.Lisa Jardin.html" ;"title="oblentz">Obituary: Rita Bronowski [Coblentz/nowiki>">oblentz">Obituary: Rita Bronowski [Coblentz/nowiki> ''The Guardian'', 22 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ralph Greatorex
Ralph Greatorex (c. 1625–1675)Sarah Bendall, 'Greatorex, Ralph (c.1625–1675)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 200retrieved 6 Feb 2011/ref> was a mathematical instrument maker. He was an apprentice of London clockmaker Elias Allen. Greatorex is mentioned in John Aubrey's Brief Lives as a great friend of William Oughtred the mathematician. Greatorex, Ralph, Lydia Miller Middleton, Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 23 He is also briefly referred to in Aubrey's 'Natural History of Wilts', and in the 'Macclesfield Correspondence'. John Evelyn met Greatorex on 8 May 1656, and saw his 'excellent invention to quench fire.' His name appears in 'Pepys's Diary.' On 10 October 1660, when several engines were shown at work in St. James's Park, 'above all the rest,' says Samuel Pepys, 'I liked that which Mr. Greatorex brought, which do carry up the water with a great deal of ease.' On 24 October Pepys bought of Grea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Boyle
Robert Boyle (; 25 January 1627 – 31 December 1691) was an Anglo-Irish natural philosopher, chemist, physicist, alchemist and inventor. Boyle is largely regarded today as the first modern chemist, and therefore one of the founders of modern chemistry, and one of the pioneers of modern experimental scientific method. He is best known for Boyle's law, which describes the inversely proportional relationship between the absolute pressure and volume of a gas, if the temperature is kept constant within a closed system. Among his works, '' The Sceptical Chymist'' is seen as a cornerstone book in the field of chemistry. He was a devout and pious Anglican and is noted for his writings in theology. Biography Early years Boyle was born at Lismore Castle, in County Waterford, Ireland, the seventh son and fourteenth child of The 1st Earl of Cork ('the Great Earl of Cork') and Catherine Fenton. Lord Cork, then known simply as Richard Boyle, had arrived in Dublin from England i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Matthew Wren (writer)
Matthew Wren (20 August 1629 – 14 June 1672) was an English politician and writer. He is now known as an opponent of James Harrington, and a monarchist who made qualified use of the ideas of Thomas Hobbes. Life He was the eldest child of the Royalist Bishop of Ely Matthew Wren and Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Cutler of Ipswich, and therefore cousin of Sir Christopher Wren. He was educated at both Peterhouse, Cambridge and the University of Oxford, graduating M.A. at Oxford on 9 September 1661. He was secretary to Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon, from 1660 to 1667, M.P. for St. Michael (1661 to 1672), and secretary to James, Duke of York (1667 to 1672). He was fatally injured accompanying the duke at the Battle of Solebay in 1672 and died on his return to Greenwich. He was buried with his father at Pembroke Hall, Cambridge. He was one of the council of the Royal Society named in Charles II's original charter, dated 15 July 1662, and was a prominent member of the Societ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thomas Willis
Thomas Willis FRS (27 January 1621 – 11 November 1675) was an English doctor who played an important part in the history of anatomy, neurology and psychiatry, and was a founding member of the Royal Society. Life Willis was born on his parents' farm in Great Bedwyn, Wiltshire, where his father held the stewardship of the manor. He was a kinsman of the Willys baronets of Fen Ditton, Cambridgeshire. He graduated M.A. from Christ Church, Oxford in 1642.Willis, Thomas The Galileo Project. Galileo.rice.edu. Retrieved on 17 July 2012. In the Civil War years he was a royalist, dispossessed of the family farm at by Parliamentary forces. In the 1640s, Willis was one of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ralph Bathurst
Ralph Bathurst, FRS (1620 – 14 June 1704) was an English theologian and physician. Early life He was born in Hothorpe, Northamptonshire in 1620 and educated at King Henry VIII School, Coventry. He graduated with a B.A. degree from Trinity College, Oxford in 1638, where he had a family connection with the President, Ralph Kettell (1563–1643). Andrew Pyle (editor), ''Dictionary of Seventeenth Century British Philosophers'' (2000), pp. 74–75. Oxford science and medicine He originally intended a career in the Church of England, and was ordained in 1644, but his prospects were disrupted by the English Civil War, and he turned to medicine. He collaborated with Thomas Willis, and it was to Bathurst that Willis dedicated his first medical publication, the ''Diatribae Duae'' of 1659. Bathurst was active in the intellectual ferment of the time, and very well-connected. In the account given by John Wallis of the precursor groups to the Royal Society of London, Bathurst is mention ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christopher Wren
Sir Christopher Wren PRS FRS (; – ) was one of the most highly acclaimed English architects in history, as well as an anatomist, astronomer, geometer, and mathematician-physicist. He was accorded responsibility for rebuilding 52 churches in the City of London after the Great Fire in 1666, including what is regarded as his masterpiece, St Paul's Cathedral, on Ludgate Hill, completed in 1710. The principal creative responsibility for a number of the churches is now more commonly attributed to others in his office, especially Nicholas Hawksmoor. Other notable buildings by Wren include the Royal Hospital Chelsea, the Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich, and the south front of Hampton Court Palace. Educated in Latin and Aristotelian physics at the University of Oxford, Wren was a founder of the Royal Society and served as its president from 1680 to 1682. His scientific work was highly regarded by Isaac Newton and Blaise Pascal. Life and works Wren was born in East Knoyl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laurence Rooke
Lawrence Rooke (also Laurence) (1622–26 June 1662) was an English astronomer and mathematician. He was also one of the founders of the Royal Society, although he died as it was being formally constituted. Life He was born in Deptford, and was a great-nephew through his mother of Lancelot Andrewes.C. A. Ronan, ''Laurence Rooke (1622–1662)'', Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London, Vol. 15, (Jul., 1960), pp. 113–118. He was educated at Eton College and King's College, Cambridge, where he graduated M.A. in 1647. He became a fellow commoner at Wadham College, Oxford in 1650, having dropped out of academia for a period because of bad health.''Concise Dictionary of National Biography'' Andrew Pyle (editor), ''Dictionary of Seventeenth Century British Philosophers'' (2000), p. 691. At Wadham he worked closely with John Wilkins and Seth Ward. He became Professor of Astronomy at Gresham College in 1652, and then Professor of Geometry there, in 1657, an app ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Neile
William Neile (7 December 1637 – 24 August 1670) was an English mathematician and founder member of the Royal Society. His major mathematical work, the rectification of the semicubical parabola, was carried out when he was aged nineteen, and was published by John Wallis. By carrying out the determination of arc lengths on a curve given algebraically, in other words by extending to algebraic curves generally with Cartesian geometry a basic concept from differential geometry, it represented a major advance in what would become infinitesimal calculus. His name also appears as Neil. Life Neile was born at Bishopsthorpe, the eldest son of Sir Paul Neile MP for Ripon and Newark. His grandfather was Richard Neile, the Archbishop of York. He entered Wadham College, Oxford as a gentleman-commoner in 1652, matriculating in 1655. He was taught by John Wilkins and Seth Ward. In 1657, he became a student at the Middle Temple. In the same year he gave his exact rectification of the semicubic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Divine Providence
In theology, Divine Providence, or simply Providence, is God's intervention in the Universe. The term ''Divine Providence'' (usually capitalized) is also used as a title of God. A distinction is usually made between "general providence", which refers to God's continuous upholding of the existence and natural order of the Universe, and "special providence", which refers to God's extraordinary intervention in the life of people. Miracles generally fall in the latter category. Etymology "Divine" evolved in the late 14th century to mean "pertaining to, in the nature of or proceeding from God or a god". This came from the Old French ''devin'' or ''devin'', with a similar meaning, and that from the Latin ''divinus'', meaning "of a god", in turn from ''divus'', with similar meaning, which was related the Latin ''deus'', meaning god or deity. The word providence comes from Latin ''providentia'' meaning foresight or prudence, and that in turn from ''pro-'', ahead" and ''videre'', to se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
