David Gregory (originally spelt Gregorie)
FRS (3 June 1659 – 10 October 1708) was a Scottish mathematician and astronomer. He was professor of mathematics at the
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...
, and later
Savilian Professor of Astronomy
The position of Savilian Professor of Astronomy was established at the University of Oxford in 1619. It was founded (at the same time as the Savilian Professor of Geometry, Savilian Professorship of Geometry) by Henry Savile (Bible translator), S ...
at the
University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
, and a proponent of
Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton (25 December 1642 – 20 March 1726/27) was an English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author (described in his time as a "natural philosopher"), widely recognised as one of the grea ...
's ''
Principia''.
Biography
![Gregory, David – Astronomiae physicae et geometricae elementa, 1726 – BEIC 1496003](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d7/Gregory%2C_David_%E2%80%93_Astronomiae_physicae_et_geometricae_elementa%2C_1726_%E2%80%93_BEIC_1496003.jpg)
The fourth of the fifteen children of
David Gregorie, a doctor from Kinnairdy, Banffshire, and Jean Walker of Orchiston, David was born in Upper Kirkgate, Aberdeen. The nephew of astronomer and mathematician
James Gregory, David, like his influential uncle before him, studied at
Aberdeen Grammar School
Aberdeen Grammar School is a state secondary school in Aberdeen, Scotland. It is one of thirteen secondary schools run by the Aberdeen City Council educational department.
It is the oldest school in the city and one of the oldest grammar school ...
and
Marischal College
Marischal College ( ) is a large granite building on Broad Street in the centre of Aberdeen in north-east Scotland, and since 2011 has acted as the headquarters of Aberdeen City Council. However, the building was constructed for and is on long- ...
(
University of Aberdeen
The University of Aberdeen ( sco, University o' 'Aiberdeen; abbreviated as ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; gd, Oilthigh Obar Dheathain) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Sc ...
), from 1671 to 1675. The Gregorys were
Jacobites
Jacobite means follower of Jacob or James. Jacobite may refer to:
Religion
* Jacobites, followers of Saint Jacob Baradaeus (died 578). Churches in the Jacobite tradition and sometimes called Jacobite include:
** Syriac Orthodox Church, sometime ...
and left Scotland to escape religious discrimination. Young David visited several countries on the continent, including the Netherlands (where he began studying medicine at
Leiden University
Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince o ...
) and France, and did not return to Scotland until 1683.
On 28 November 1683, Gregory graduated M.A. at
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...
, and in October 1683 he became Chair of Mathematics at University of Edinburgh. He was "the first to openly teach the doctrines of the ''Principia'', in a public seminary...in those days this was a daring innovation."
[David Gregory]
from Significant Scots at electricscotland.com.
Gregory decided to leave for England where, in 1691, he was elected
Savilian Professor of Astronomy
The position of Savilian Professor of Astronomy was established at the University of Oxford in 1619. It was founded (at the same time as the Savilian Professor of Geometry, Savilian Professorship of Geometry) by Henry Savile (Bible translator), S ...
at the University of Oxford, due in large part to the influence of
Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton (25 December 1642 – 20 March 1726/27) was an English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author (described in his time as a "natural philosopher"), widely recognised as one of the grea ...
. The same year he was elected to be a
Fellow of the Royal Society
Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...
. In 1692, he was elected a Fellow of
Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...
.
Gregory spent several days with
Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton (25 December 1642 – 20 March 1726/27) was an English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author (described in his time as a "natural philosopher"), widely recognised as one of the grea ...
in 1694, discussing revisions for a second edition of Newton's
Principia. Gregory made notes of these discussions, but the second edition of 1713 was not due to Gregory.
In 1695 he published ''Catoptricae et dioptricae sphaericae elementa'' which addressed
chromatic aberration
In optics, chromatic aberration (CA), also called chromatic distortion and spherochromatism, is a failure of a lens to focus all colors to the same point. It is caused by dispersion: the refractive index of the lens elements varies with the w ...
and the possibility of its correction with
achromatic lens
An achromatic lens or achromat is a lens that is designed to limit the effects of chromatic and spherical aberration. Achromatic lenses are corrected to bring two wavelengths (typically red and blue) into focus on the same plane.
The most comm ...
.
In 1705 Gregory became an Honorary Fellow of the
Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh
The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (RCPE) is a medical royal college in Scotland. It is one of three organisations that sets the specialty training standards for physicians in the United Kingdom. It was established by Royal charter ...
. At the
Union of 1707
The Acts of Union ( gd, Achd an Aonaidh) were two Acts of Parliament: the Union with Scotland Act 1706 passed by the Parliament of England, and the Union with England Act 1707 passed by the Parliament of Scotland. They put into effect the te ...
, he was given the responsibility of re-organising the
Scottish Mint
There were a number of Mint (coin), mints in Scotland, for the production of the Scottish coinage. The most important mint was in the capital, Edinburgh, which was active from the reign of David I of Scotland, David I (1124–1153), and was the l ...
. He was an uncle of philosopher
Thomas Reid
Thomas Reid (; 7 May ( O.S. 26 April) 1710 – 7 October 1796) was a religiously trained Scottish philosopher. He was the founder of the Scottish School of Common Sense and played an integral role in the Scottish Enlightenment. In 1783 he wa ...
.
Gregory and his wife, Elizabeth Oliphant, had nine children, but seven died while still children.
On his death in
Maidenhead, Berkshire he was buried in Maidenhead churchyard.
Works
* 1684
''Exercitatio geometrica de dimensione figurarum'' via
Google Books
Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical c ...
* 1695
''Catoptricæ et dioptricæ sphæricæ elementa''- digital facsimile from the
Linda Hall Library
The Linda Hall Library is a privately endowed American library of science, engineering and technology located in Kansas City, Missouri, sitting "majestically on a urban arboretum." It is the "largest independently funded public library of scien ...
* 1703: (editor) ''Euclides quae supersunt omnia'' (collected works of Euclid)
*
* 1745: (
Colin Maclaurin
Colin Maclaurin (; gd, Cailean MacLabhruinn; February 1698 – 14 June 1746) was a Scottish mathematician who made important contributions to geometry and algebra. He is also known for being a child prodigy and holding the record for bei ...
editor
Treatise of Practical Geometryvia
Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...
References
External links
*
Lectures on Algebra ascribed to David Gregory, 18th centuryfrom
Archives Hub
The Archives Hub is a Jisc service, and is freely available to all. It provides a cross-search of descriptions of archives held across the United Kingdom, in over 320 institutions, including universities, colleges, specialist repositories, chari ...
by
Jisc
Jisc is a United Kingdom not-for-profit company that provides network and IT services and digital resources in support of further and higher education institutions and research as well as not-for-profits and the public sector.
History
T ...
Papers of David Gregory (1661–1708)from Archives Hub
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gregory, David
1659 births
1708 deaths
Scientists from Aberdeen
Fellows of the Royal Society
Scottish astronomers
Scottish mathematicians
Scottish scholars and academics
Alumni of the University of Aberdeen
Academics of the University of Edinburgh
Fellows of Balliol College, Oxford
Savilian Professors of Astronomy
People educated at Aberdeen Grammar School
Leiden University alumni
Scottish Episcopalians
17th-century astronomers
18th-century British astronomers