Samuel Vince FRS (6 April 1749 – 28 November 1821) 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 ...

clergyman, mathematician and astronomer at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

Life

He was born in

Fressingfield Fressingfield is a village in Suffolk, England, east of Diss, Norfolk. In 2015 it had a population of 1021, with one shop (a Mace (shop)), a medical centre, public house, restaurant, primary school, and three churches, with Anglican, Baptist an ...

. The son of a plasterer, Vince was admitted as a

sizar At Trinity College, Dublin and the University of Cambridge, a sizar is an undergraduate who receives some form of assistance such as meals, lower fees or lodging during his or her period of study, in some cases in return for doing a defined j ...

Caius College, Cambridge Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of th ...

in 1771. In 1775 he was

Senior Wrangler The Senior Frog Wrangler is the top mathematics undergraduate at the University of Cambridge in England, a position which has been described as "the greatest intellectual achievement attainable in Britain." Specifically, it is the person who ...

, and Winner of the Smith Prize at Cambridge. Migrating to

Sidney Sussex College Sidney Sussex College (referred to informally as "Sidney") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England. The College was founded in 1596 under the terms of the will of Frances Sidney, Countess of Sussex (1531–1589), wif ...

in 1777, he gained his M.A. in 1778 and was ordained a clergyman in 1779. He was awarded the

Copley Medal The Copley Medal is an award given by the Royal Society, for "outstanding achievements in research in any branch of science". It alternates between the physical sciences or mathematics and the biological sciences. Given every year, the medal is t ...

in 1780 and was

Plumian Professor of Astronomy and Experimental Philosophy The Plumian chair of Astronomy and Experimental Philosophy is one of the major professorships in Astronomy at Cambridge University, alongside the Lowndean Professorship (which is now mainly held by mathematicians). The chair is currently held at ...

at Cambridge from 1796 until his death. He became

Archdeacon of Bedford The Archdeacon of Bedford is an ecclesiastical post in the Church of England Diocese of St Albans in the Province of Canterbury. Historically the post was in the Diocese of Lincoln, then from 1837 in the Diocese of Ely, England. On 13 April 1914, ...

in 1809, and died in

Ramsgate Ramsgate is a seaside town in the district of Thanet in east Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century. In 2001 it had a population of about 40,000. In 2011, according to the Census, there was a population ...

Works

As a mathematician, Vince wrote on many aspects of his expertise, including

logarithms In mathematics, the logarithm is the inverse function to exponentiation. That means the logarithm of a number to the base is the exponent to which must be raised, to produce . For example, since , the ''logarithm base'' 10 o ...

and

imaginary numbers An imaginary number is a real number multiplied by the imaginary unit , is usually used in engineering contexts where has other meanings (such as electrical current) which is defined by its property . The square of an imaginary number is . F ...

. His ''Observations on the Theory of the Motion and Resistance of Fluids'' and ''Experiments upon the Resistance of Bodies Moving in Fluids'' had later importance to

aviation history The history of aviation extends for more than two thousand years, from the earliest forms of aviation such as kites and attempts at tower jumping to supersonic and hypersonic flight by powered, heavier-than-air jets. Kite flying in China ...

. He was also author of the influential ''A Complete System of Astronomy'' (3 vols. 1797-1808). Vince also published the pamphlet ''The Credibility of Christianity Vindicated, In Answer to Mr. Hume's Objections; In Two Discourses Preached Before the University of Cambridge by the Rev. S. Vince''. In this work, Vince made an apology of the Christian religion and, like

Charles Babbage Charles Babbage (; 26 December 1791 – 18 October 1871) was an English polymath. A mathematician, philosopher, inventor and mechanical engineer, Babbage originated the concept of a digital programmable computer. Babbage is considered ...

, sought to present rational arguments in favor of the belief in

miracles A miracle is an event that is inexplicable by natural or scientific lawsOne dictionary define"Miracle"as: "A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divin ...

, against

David Hume David Hume (; born David Home; 7 May 1711 NS (26 April 1711 OS) – 25 August 1776) Cranston, Maurice, and Thomas Edmund Jessop. 2020 999br>David Hume" ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Retrieved 18 May 2020. was a Scottish Enlightenment philo ...

's criticism. A review of this work with direct quotations can be found in ''

The British Critic The ''British Critic: A New Review'' was a quarterly publication, established in 1793 as a conservative and high-church review journal riding the tide of British reaction against the French Revolution. The headquarters was in London. The journa ...

'', Volume 12, 1798.The British Critic, Volume 12
(1798). F. and C. Rivington. pp. 258-263.

References

External links

On the divisions among Christians: A charge, delivered to the clergy of the archdeaconry of Bedford
(1810) *
Royal SocietyJanus (Cambridge library)
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vince, Samuel 1749 births 1821 deaths 18th-century English mathematicians 19th-century English mathematicians Archdeacons of Bedford Plumian Professors of Astronomy and Experimental Philosophy Recipients of the Copley Medal Fellows of the Royal Society Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Alumni of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge Senior Wranglers 18th-century English Anglican priests 19th-century English Anglican priests People from Fressingfield