William Hales (8 April 1747 – 30 January 1831) was an Irish clergyman and scientific writer. He was born in

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

, Ireland, the son of Samuel Hales, the curate at the cathedral church there. He went to

Trinity College, Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

in 1764 and became a fellow there, graduating with a BA and DD. He later became professor of Hebrew at the university. In 1778 he published ''Sonorum doctrina rationalis et experimentalis'' a study, based on experiments, of Newton's theory of sounds. In 1782 he published ''De motibus planetarum dissertatio'', another study of Newtonian theory, this time on the motions of the planets in eccentric orbits. In 1784 he had printed at his own expense ''Analysis aequationum'', a mathematical text for which he was complimented by

Joseph Louis Lagrange Joseph-Louis Lagrange (born Giuseppe Luigi LagrangiaChurch of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the second ...

rector of

Killeshandra Killeshandra or Killashandra (), is a village in County Cavan, Ireland. It is northwest of Cavan Town in the centre of County Cavan's lakeland and geopark region and the Erne catchment environment of rivers, lakes, wetlands and woodland. Toge ...

, County Cavan the year before, and lived there for the rest of his life. In 1791 he married and he and his wife had two sons and two daughters. In 1798 he obtained government troops to regain control of the country round Killeshandra, following the landing by a French army at

Killala Killala () is a village in County Mayo in Ireland, north of Ballina. The railway line from Dublin to Ballina once extended to Killala. To the west of Killala is a Townsplots West (known locally as Enagh Beg), which contains a number of ancient ...

. From about 1812 was chancellor of the diocese of

Emly Emly or Emlybeg () is a village in County Tipperary, Ireland. It is a civil parish in the historical barony of Clanwilliam. It is also an Ecclesiastical parish in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly. It is situated on the R515 ...

. His best-known work is ''A New Analysis of Chronology'', which took twenty years to complete and was finally published in three volumes (1809 - 1812). In this book, which deals with the chronology of the whole Bible, Hales made it his rule as far as possible to use original sources. His other works include ''The Inspector, or, Select Literary Intelligence for the Vulgar'' and ''Irish Pursuits of Literature'' (both 1799), ''Methodism Inspected'' (1803–5), and ''Letters on the Tenets of the Romish Hierarchy'' (1813). From about 1820 or earlier he suffered from depression. He died in 1831.

References

*
Analysis Aequationum
' by William Hales, Pub. Excudebat J. Hill (1784) * W. W. Wroth, rev. Philip Carter, ‘Hales, William (1747–1831)’, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 200
- online article, subscription required

Mathematics at TCD 1592-1992
School of Mathematics: Trinity College Dublin {{DEFAULTSORT:Hales, William Irish Anglican theologians Irish scientists Clergy from Cork (city) 1747 births 1831 deaths