John Lodge Cowley (1719,

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

– buried 1797, United Kingdom) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

cartographer Cartography (; from grc, χάρτης , "papyrus, sheet of paper, map"; and , "write") is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an im ...

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althou ...

and

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

. John Cowley was a professor of mathematics at the

Royal Military Academy, Woolwich The Royal Military Academy (RMA) at Woolwich, in south-east London, was a British Army military academy for the training of commissioned officers of the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers. It later also trained officers of the Royal Corps of Sig ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, for a number of years between 1761 and 1773. He was elected 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 April, 1768. His mathematical methods were famous, but he was also an important geographer as well as Cartographer Royal to King George II. He specialised in maps that depicted the

counties of the United Kingdom The counties of the United Kingdom are subnational divisions of the United Kingdom, used for the purposes of administrative, geographical and political demarcation. The older term, ''shire'' is historically equivalent to county. By the Middle Ages ...

from which arose his most famous work, ''Counties of England''. Cowley published several maps, many of minute detail, and on them often appeared his name although on others appeared the name of

Emanuel Bowen Emanuel Bowen (1694 – 8 May 1767) was a Welsh map engraver, who achieved the unique distinction of becoming Royal Mapmaker to both to King George II of Great Britain and Louis XV of France. Bowen was highly regarded by his contemporaries for pr ...

acting as engraver. Another one of his works of some note, but less famous than ''The Counties'', was ''A new and easy introduction to the study of geography'' which was published by Thomas Cox and James Hodges. The work was structured as questions and answers with decorative maps added later. His maps contained longer titles than those usually found on the standard miniature maps. John Cowley collaborated with

Robert Dodsley Robert Dodsley (13 February 1703 – 23 September 1764) was an English bookseller, publisher, poet, playwright, and miscellaneous writer. Life Dodsley was born near Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, where his father was master of the free school. He ...

for several years in the creation of his maps which explains why the maps were ascribed to Dodsley/Cowley. Among his works are remembered the superb engravings representing the constellation drawn on glass globes created by Thomas Heath. He also published a number of introductory works on

solid geometry In mathematics, solid geometry or stereometry is the traditional name for the geometry of Three-dimensional space, three-dimensional, Euclidean spaces (i.e., 3D geometry). Stereometry deals with the measurements of volumes of various solid fig ...

incorporating fold-up figures: ''Geometry Made Easy'' (1752), ''An Appendix to

Euclid's Elements The ''Elements'' ( grc, Στοιχεῖα ''Stoikheîa'') is a mathematical treatise consisting of 13 books attributed to the ancient Greek mathematician Euclid in Alexandria, Ptolemaic Egypt 300 BC. It is a collection of definitions, postulat ...

'' (1758) and ''The Theory of Perspective Demonstrated'' (1765). He taught geometry to subscribers of the St. Martin's Lane Academy, a drawing school established by William Hogarth and John Ellys.London Daily Advertiser no. 4558 (4 July 1756). Cowley died in

Walworth Walworth () is a district of south London, England, within the London Borough of Southwark. It adjoins Camberwell to the south and Elephant and Castle to the north, and is south-east of Charing Cross. Major streets in Walworth include the Old ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

. He had a daughter called Mrs Johnstone who inherited her father's passion for science and over the years instructed many members of the British nobility in the use of globes and maps.

Gallery

File:John_Cowley_Map_of_north_Africa.jpg, Map of north Africa taken from ''A New and easy introduction to the study of geography'', J.L.Cowley File:Russia_John_Cowley_map.jpg, Map of Russia File:John_lodge_cowley_-_appendix_to_elements_of_euclid.jpg , ''An Appendix to Euclid's Elements in Seven Books'' File:An_appendix_to_the_elements_of_euclid_second_book_-_john_cowley.JPG File:An_appendix_to_euclid_elements_-_book_2_plate_6.JPG File:An_Appendix_to_the_elements_of_Euclid_-_book_4.JPG File:John_Cowley_An_appendix_to_the_elements_of_Euclid_-_book_3.JPG

References

1719 births 1787 deaths English cartographers Fellows of the Royal Society 18th-century English mathematicians 18th-century cartographers 18th-century English people English geologists {{geoscientist-stub

See also

Gallery

References