James Wood (14 December 1760 – 23 April 1839) was a

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 ...

, and Master of St John's College, Cambridge. In his later years he was

Dean of Ely The position of Dean of Ely Cathedral, in East Anglia, England, in the Diocese of Ely was created in 1541 after the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The first Dean of Ely had been the last Benedictine prior of Ely. List of deans Early mode ...

Life

Wood was born in Holcombe, Bury where his father ran an evening school and taught his son the elements of arithmetic and algebra. From Bury Grammar School he proceeded to St John's College, Cambridge in 1778, graduating as

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 a ...

in 1782. On graduating he became a fellow of the college and in his long tenure there produced several successful academic textbooks for students of mathematics. Between 1795 and 1799 his ''The principles of mathematics and natural philosophy'', was printed, in four volumes, by J. Burges. Vol.I: 'The elements of algebra', by Wood; Vol.II: 'The principles of fluxions' by Samuel Vince; Vol.III Part I: 'The principles of mechanics" by Wood; and Vol.III Part II: "The principles of hydrostatics" by Samuel Vince; Vol.IV "The principles of astronomy" by Samuel Vince. Three other volumes -"A treatise on plane and spherical trigonometry" and "The elements of the conic sections" by Samuel Vince (1800) and "The elements of optics" by Wood (1801" may have been issued as part of the series. Wood remained for sixty years at St. John's, serving as both President (1802–1815) and Master (1815–1839); on his death in 1839 he was interred in the college chapel and bequeathed his extensive library to the college, comprising almost 4,500 printed books on classics, history, mathematics, theology and travel, dating from the 17th to the 19th centuries. Wood was also ordained as a priest in 1787 and served as

from 1820 until his death.

Publications

* ''The Elements of Algebra'' (1795) * ''The Principles of Mechanics'' (1796) * ''The Elements of Optics'' (1798)

References

Notes

Other sources

W. W. Rouse Ball Walter William Rouse Ball (14 August 1850 – 4 April 1925), known as W. W. Rouse Ball, was a British mathematician, lawyer, and fellow at Trinity College, Cambridge, from 1878 to 1905. He was also a keen amateur magician, and the founding ...

, ''A History of the Study of Mathematics at Cambridge University'', 1889, repr.

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press in the world. It is also the King's Printer. Cambridge University Pre ...

, 2009, , p. 110 {{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, James (Cleric) 1760 births 1839 deaths People from Bury, Greater Manchester People educated at Bury Grammar School Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Masters of St John's College, Cambridge Deans of Ely Senior Wranglers 18th-century English mathematicians 19th-century English mathematicians 18th-century English Anglican priests 19th-century English Anglican priests Vice-Chancellors of the University of Cambridge