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William Oughtred

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112-411: William Oughtred (5 March 1574 – 30 June 1660), also Owtred , Uhtred , etc., was an English mathematician and Anglican clergyman . After John Napier discovered logarithms and Edmund Gunter created the logarithmic scales (lines, or rules) upon which slide rules are based, Oughtred was the first to use two such scales sliding by one another to perform direct multiplication and division . He

224-612: A Council of the North was set up for the northern counties of England. After falling into disuse, it was re-established in 1537 and abolished in 1641. A very short-lived Council of the West also existed for the West Country between 1537 and 1540. In the Anglo-Saxon period, the geld or property tax was first levied in response to Danish invasions but later became a regular tax. The majority of

336-497: A peerage on such basis, meaning a right to sit in the House of Lords , were not to be revived, nor any right of succession based on them. The Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284 followed the conquest of Wales by Edward I of England . It assumed the lands held by the Princes of Gwynedd under the title " Prince of Wales " as legally part of the lands of England, and established shire counties on

448-402: A Diary and "Practike" given to him by his teacher. He was well-acquainted with the astrologer William Lilly who, as noted above, helped to prevent his ejection from his living in 1646. John Aubrey states that (despite their political differences) Sir Richard Onslow , son of Sir Edward, also defended Oughtred against ejection in 1646. He adds that Oughtred was an astrologer, and successful in

560-555: A Latin edition of 1648, entitled Clavis Mathematica Denuo Limata, sive potius Fabricata (i.e. "The Mathematical Key Newly Filed, or rather Made"), in which the preface was removed and the book was reduced by one chapter. In the English Foreword, Oughtred explains that the intention had always been to provide the ingenious reader with an Ariadne's thread through the intricate labyrinth of these studies, but that his earlier, highly compressed style had been found difficult by some, and

672-576: A baby), Benjamin, Simon, Margaret, Judith, Edward, Elizabeth, Anne, George, and John. Two of the sons, Benjamin and John, shared their father's interest in instruments and became watchmakers. Oughtred's wife was a niece of Simon Caryll of Tangley and his wife Lady Elizabeth Aungier (married 1607), daughter of Sir Francis Aungier . Oughtred was a witness to Simon Caryll's will, made 1618, and through two further marriages Elizabeth remained matriarch and dowager of Great Tangley until her death in about 1650. Elizabeth's brother Gerald, 2nd Baron Aungier of Longford,

784-407: A brass instrument made by Elias Allen , after Oughtred's written instructions (which Allen preserved). When, in 1632, Richard Delamain the elder claimed that invention for himself, William Robinson wrote to Oughtred: "I cannot but wonder at the indiscretion of Rich. Delamain, who being conscious to himself that he is but the pickpurse of another man's wit, would thus inconsiderately provoke and awake

896-458: A certain noble lady, for whom he wrote notes for its use. In London, in spring 1618, Oughtred visited his friend Henry Briggs at Gresham College , and was introduced to Edmund Gunter , Reader in Astronomy, then occupying Dr Brooks's rooms. He showed Gunter his "Horizontall Instrument", who questioned him closely about it and spoke very approvingly. Soon afterwards Gunter sent him a print taken from

1008-763: A generation of mathematicians. Seth Ward resided with Oughtred for six months to learn contemporary mathematics, and the physician Charles Scarborough also stayed at Albury: John Wallis and Christopher Wren corresponded with him. Another Albury pupil was Robert Wood , who helped him to see the Clavis through the press. Isaac Newton 's high opinion of Oughtred is expressed in his letter of 1694 to Nathaniel Hawes, where he quotes him extensively, calling him "a Man whose judgement (if any man's) may safely be relyed upon... that very good and judicious man, Mr Oughtred". The first edition of John Wallis's foundational text on infinitesimal calculus , Arithmetica Infinitorum (1656), carries

1120-434: A greater role in higher education. Wallis wrote the introduction to his 1652 edition, and used it to publicise his skill as cryptographer ; in another, Oughtred promoted the talents of Wren. This work was used by Oughtred in manuscript before it was edited for publication by his pupil, William Forster . Here Oughtred introduced the abbreviations for trigonometric functions . It contains his description and instructions for

1232-503: A linear rule was an invention of the 1650s. At the age of 23, Oughtred invented the double horizontal sundial , now named the Oughtred type after him. A short description The description and use of the double Horizontall Dyall (16 pp.) was added to a 1653 edition (in English translation) of the pioneer book on recreational mathematics , Récréations Mathématiques (1624) by Hendrik van Etten,

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1344-529: A local noble or bishop. The last such, the County Palatine of Durham , did not lose this special status until the 19th century. Although all of England was divided into shires by the time of the Norman Conquest, some counties were formed considerably later, up to the 16th century. Because of their differing origins the counties varied considerably in size . The county boundaries were fairly static between

1456-709: A long letter of dedication to William Oughtred. William Oughtred's most important work was first published in 1631, in Latin, under the title Arithemeticæ in Numeris et Speciebus Institutio, quae tum Logisticæ, tum Analyticæ, atque adeus totius Mathematicæ quasi Clavis est (i.e. "The Foundation of Arithmetic in Numbers and Kinds, which is as it were the Key of the Logistic, then of the Analytic, and so of

1568-494: A major European war. A Treaty of Union was agreed on 22 July 1706, and following the Acts of Union of 1707 , which created the Kingdom of Great Britain , the independence of the kingdoms of England and Scotland came to an end on 1 May 1707. The Acts of Union created a customs union and monetary union and provided that any "laws and statutes" that were "contrary to or inconsistent with

1680-496: A mere duke, William owed allegiance to Philip I of France , whereas in the independent Kingdom of England he could rule without interference. He was crowned on 25 December 1066 in Westminster Abbey , London. In 1092, William II led an invasion of Strathclyde , a Celtic kingdom in what is now southwest Scotland and Cumbria. In doing so, he annexed what is now the county of Cumbria to England. In 1124, Henry I ceded what

1792-579: A month after the restoration of Charles II . A staunch supporter of the royalty, he is said to have died of joy at the knowledge of the return of the King. He was buried in Old St Peter and St Paul's Church, Albury . Autobiographical information is contained in his address "To the English gentrie" in his Just Apologie of c. 1634. Oughtred developed his interest in mathematics early in life, and devoted whatever spare time his academic studies allowed him to it. Among

1904-470: A particular oak or ash tree, "as if infused by a divine genius", after having pondered those problems unsuccessfully for months or years. Oughtred was well-known to Elias Ashmole , as Ashmole stated in a note to Lilly's autobiographical sketch: "This gentleman I was very well acquainted with, having lived at the house over-against his, at Aldbury in Surrey, three or four years. E.A." The biography of Ashmole in

2016-506: A passion for mathematics, and would often stay awake at nights to learn while others were sleeping. He then attended King's College, Cambridge , where he graduated BA in 1596/97 and MA in 1600, holding a fellowship in the college from 1595 to 1603. He composed a Funeral Ode in Latin for Sir William More of Loseley Park in 1600. Admitted to holy orders, he left the University of Cambridge about 1603, when as "Master" William Oughtred he held

2128-611: A proper grasp of the theory behind them. Another student of his, Forster, who came to him as a beginner during the 1620s, was therefore taught without reference to instruments so that he should have a true grounding. However, during the long vacation of 1630 Forster (who taught mathematics from a house in St Clement Danes churchyard, on the Westminster side of Temple Bar , in the same locality as Elias Allen's shop), while staying with Oughtred at Albury, asked him about Gunter's Ruler, and

2240-474: A pseudonym of Jean Leurechon . The translation itself is no longer attributed to Oughtred, but (probably) to Francis Malthus. Oughtred also invented the Universal equinoctial ring dial . According to his contemporaries, Oughtred had interests in alchemy and astrology . The Hermetic science remained a philosophical touchstone among many reputable scientists of his time, and his student Thomas Henshaw copied

2352-457: A series of civil wars over possession of the throne between the House of Lancaster (whose heraldic symbol was the red rose) and the House of York (whose symbol was the white rose), each led by different branches of the descendants of Edward III. The end of these wars found the throne held by the descendant of an initially illegitimate member of the House of Lancaster, married to the eldest daughter of

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2464-482: A short epigram by "R.S." beneath. Longer verses addressed to Oughtred are prefixed by Christopher Wase . A miscellaneous collection of his hitherto unpublished mathematical papers (in Latin) was edited and published by his friend Sir Charles Scarborough in 1677. The treatises contained are on these subjects: Oughtred's invention of the slide rule consisted of taking a single "rule", already known to Gunter, and simplifying

2576-545: A sleeping lion..." Around 1628 he was appointed by the Earl of Arundel to instruct his son William Howard in mathematics. Some of Oughtred's mathematical correspondence survives, and is printed in Bayle 's General Dictionary , and (with some editorial omissions restored) in Dr Rigaud 's Correspondence of Scientific Men . William Alabaster wrote to him in 1633 to propose the quadrature of

2688-655: A unitary legislative chamber with a new body, the Council of State becoming the executive. However the Army remained the dominant institution in the new republic and the most prominent general was Oliver Cromwell . The Commonwealth fought wars in Ireland and Scotland which were subdued and placed under Commonwealth military occupation. Meanwhile, relations with the Dutch Republic had deteriorated. Despite initial English support during

2800-486: Is credited with inventing the slide rule in about 1622. He also introduced the "×" symbol for multiplication and the abbreviations "sin" and "cos" for the sine and cosine functions. The son of Benjamin Oughtred of Eton in Buckinghamshire (now part of Berkshire ), William was born there on 5 March 1574/75 and was educated at Eton College , where his father, a writing-master, was one of his teachers. Oughtred had

2912-482: Is now southeast Scotland (called Lothian ) to the Kingdom of Scotland , in return for the King of Scotland's loyalty. This final cession established what would become the traditional borders of England which have remained largely unchanged since then (except for occasional and temporary changes). This area of land had previously been a part of the Anglian Kingdom of Northumbria . Lothian contained what later became

3024-614: The Biographia Britannica (1747) called forth the supposition that Oughtred was a participant in Ashmole's admission to freemasonry in 1646. Friedrich Nicolai , in both sections of his Essay (on the Templar and Masonic Orders) of 1783, associated Oughtred, Lilly, Wharton and other Astrologers in the formation of the order of Free and Accepted Masons in Warrington and London. The statement

3136-644: The 1801 union between the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland, forming the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland . In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The counties of England were established for administration by the Normans , in most cases based on earlier shires established by

3248-480: The Anglo-Saxons . They ceased to be used for administration only with the creation of the administrative counties in 1889. Unlike the partly self-governing boroughs that covered urban areas, the counties of medieval England existed primarily as a means of enforcing central government power, enabling monarchs to exercise control over local areas through their chosen representatives – originally sheriffs and later

3360-574: The Bretwalda . Soon after the Norman Conquest of England , however, some Norman lords began to attack Wales. They conquered and ruled parts of it, acknowledging the overlordship of the Norman kings of England but with considerable local independence. Over many years these " Marcher Lords " conquered more and more of Wales, against considerable resistance led by various Welsh princes, who also often acknowledged

3472-632: The English Civil War (1641–45), in which the king was defeated, and to the abolition of the monarchy under Oliver Cromwell during the Interregnum of 1649–1660. After the trial and execution of Charles I in January 1649, the Rump Parliament passed an act declaring England to be a Commonwealth on 19 May 1649. The monarchy and the House of Lords were abolished, and so the House of Commons became

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3584-752: The English Renaissance and again extended English monarchical power beyond England proper, achieving the full union of England and the Principality of Wales under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542 . Henry VIII oversaw the English Reformation , and his daughter Elizabeth I (reigned 1558–1603) the Elizabethan Religious Settlement , meanwhile establishing England as a great power and laying

3696-498: The House of Stuart claimed descent from Henry VII via Margaret Tudor . The completion of the conquest of Wales by Edward I in 1284 put Wales under the control of the English crown. Edward III (reigned 1327–1377) transformed the Kingdom of England into one of the most formidable military powers in Europe; his reign also saw vital developments in legislation and government—in particular

3808-599: The Interregnum of 1649–1660). All English monarchs after 1066 ultimately descend from the Normans , and the distinction of the Plantagenets is conventional—beginning with Henry II (reigned 1154–1189) as from that time, the Angevin kings became "more English in nature"; the houses of Lancaster and York are both Plantagenet cadet branches, the Tudor dynasty claimed descent from Edward III via John Beaufort and James VI and I of

3920-562: The Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542 ). Wales was incorporated into the Kingdom of England, and henceforth was represented in the Parliament of England . During the 1530s, Henry VIII overthrew the power of the Catholic Church within the kingdom, replacing the pope as head of his own English Church and seizing the Catholic Church's lands, thereby facilitating the creation of a variation of Catholicism that became more Protestant over time. This had

4032-483: The Norman period Rex Anglorum remained standard, with occasional use of Rex Anglie ("King of England"). From John's reign onwards all other titles were eschewed in favour of Rex or Regina Anglie . In 1604 James I , who had inherited the English throne the previous year, adopted the title (now usually rendered in English rather than Latin) King of Great Britain . The Kingdom of England emerged from

4144-413: The Parliament of Ireland , with the aim of restoring such central authority as had been lost throughout the country during the previous two centuries. Calais , the last remaining continental possession of the Kingdom, was lost in 1558, during the reign of Philip and Mary I . Their successor, Elizabeth I , consolidated the new and increasingly Protestant Church of England . She also began to build up

4256-662: The United Kingdom . The Kingdom of England was among the most powerful states in Europe during the medieval and early modern periods. Beginning in the year 886 Alfred the Great reoccupied London from the Danish Vikings and after this event he declared himself King of the Anglo-Saxons , until his death in 899. During the course of the early tenth century, the various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms were united by Alfred's descendants Edward

4368-838: The first fruits sequestered to his use, and, after four months, asking the patron to present him. However, Tichborne offered to complete the agreed payment at once, and was accordingly presented by the trustees in May 1619 (Simon Caryll dying in that year): but before he could be admitted, the Crown interposed a different candidate because the contract between Oughtred and Tichborne was deemed by Sir Henry Yelverton clearly to be Simoniacal . Oughtred therefore remained at Albury, serving as rector there for fifty years. William Lilly , that celebrated astrologer, knew Oughtred and claimed in his autobiography to have intervened on his behalf to prevent his ejection from his living by Parliament in 1646: "About this time,

4480-402: The lord-lieutenants – and their subordinate justices of the peace . Counties were used initially for the administration of justice , collection of taxes and organisation of the military, and later for local government and electing parliamentary representation. Some outlying counties were from time to time accorded palatine status with some military and central government functions vested in

4592-404: The philosopher 's first matter , and that he was well persuaded of the possibility of their elixir ; he believed the sun to be a material fire, the moon a continent, as appears by the late selenographers ; he had strong apprehensions of some significant event to happen the following year, from the calculation of difference with the diluvian period ; and added that it might possibly be to convert

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4704-458: The "~" symbol, in terms of mathematics, expressing the difference between two variables. Clavis Mathematicae became a classic, reprinted in several editions. It was used as a textbook by John Wallis and Isaac Newton among others. A concise work, it argued for a less verbose style in mathematics, and greater dependence on symbols. Drawing on François Viète (though not explicitly), Oughtred also innovated freely with symbols, introducing not only

4816-518: The 16th century Laws in Wales acts and the Local Government Act 1888 . Each shire was responsible for gathering taxes for the central government; for local defence; and for justice, through assize courts . The power of the feudal barons to control their landholding was considerably weakened in 1290 by the statute of Quia Emptores . Feudal baronies became perhaps obsolete (but not extinct) on

4928-605: The Angles (called Angulus by Bede ). The name Engla land became England by haplology during the Middle English period ( Engle-land , Engelond ). The Latin name was Anglia or Anglorum terra , the Old French and Anglo-Norman one Engleterre . The standard title for monarchs from Æthelstan until John was Rex Anglorum ("King of the English"). Cnut , a Dane, was the first to call himself "King of England". During

5040-689: The Castilian Pero Niño . Though the English won numerous victories, they were unable to overcome the numerical superiority of the French and their strategic use of gunpowder weapons. England was defeated at the Battle of Formigny in 1450 and finally at the Battle of Castillon in 1453, retaining only a single town in France, Calais . During the Hundred Years' War an English identity began to develop in place of

5152-618: The Dutch Republic in its wars against Louis XIV of France. In the Scottish case, the attractions were partly financial and partly to do with removing English trade sanctions put in place through the Alien Act 1705 . The English were more anxious about the royal succession. The death of William III in 1702 had led to the accession of his sister-in-law Anne to the thrones of England and Scotland, but her only surviving child had died in 1700, and

5264-516: The Dutch War of Independence against the Spanish, tensions arose as the Dutch Republic emerged as England's principal commercial and naval rival. By the mid-17th century, it had become the foremost trading nation. In response the English, alarmed by their waning competitiveness, implemented stricter trading policies to curb Dutch dominance. The First Anglo-Dutch War which followed, however, failed to resolve

5376-516: The Elder (reigned 899–924) and Æthelstan (reigned 924–939) to form the Kingdom of the English. In 927, Æthelstan conquered the last remaining Viking kingdom, York , making him the first Anglo-Saxon ruler of the whole of England. In 1016, the kingdom became part of the North Sea Empire of Cnut the Great , a personal union between England, Denmark and Norway . The Norman Conquest in 1066 led to

5488-831: The English Act of Settlement 1701 had given the succession to the English crown to the Protestant House of Hanover . Securing the same succession in Scotland became the primary object of English strategic thinking towards Scotland. By 1704, the Union of the Crowns was in crisis, with the Scottish Act of Security allowing for the Scottish Parliament to choose a different monarch, which could in turn lead to an independent foreign policy during

5600-404: The English model over those areas. The Marcher Lords were progressively tied to the English kings by the grants of lands and lordships in England. The Council of Wales and the Marches , administered from Ludlow Castle , was initially established by Edward IV of England to govern the lands held under the Principality of Wales in 1472. At the same time the Council of Wales was created in 1472,

5712-454: The Grandees in the Army, through the Council of State imposed a new constitutional arrangement under a written constitution called the Instrument of Government . Under the Instrument of Government executive power lay with a Lord Protector (an office to be held for the life of the incumbent) and there were to be triennial Parliaments, with each sitting for at least five months. Article 23 of the Instrument of Government stated that Oliver Cromwell

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5824-442: The Heptarchy, the most powerful king among the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms might become acknowledged as Bretwalda , a high king over the other kings. The decline of Mercia allowed Wessex to become more powerful, absorbing the kingdoms of Kent and Sussex in 825. The kings of Wessex increasingly dominated the other kingdoms of England during the 9th century. In 827, Northumbria submitted to Egbert of Wessex at Dore , briefly making Egbert

5936-406: The House of York: Henry VII and Elizabeth of York . Wales retained a separate legal and administrative system, which had been established by Edward I in the late 13th century. The country was divided between the Marcher Lords , who gave feudal allegiance to the crown, and the Principality of Wales . Under the Tudor monarchy, Henry VIII replaced the laws of Wales with those of England (under

6048-438: The Jews by our Saviour's visible appearance , or to judge the world; and therefore, his word was, Parate in occursum ; he said Original Sin was not met with in the Greek Fathers , yet he believed the thing; this was from some discourse on Dr. Taylor 's late book, which I had lent him." Oughtred's name is remembered in the Oughtred Society, a group formed in the United States in 1991 for collectors of slide rules. It produces

6160-405: The Kingdom by the name of Great Britain', forming the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Parliament of Great Britain . The Anglo-Saxons referred to themselves as the Engle or the Angelcynn , originally names of the Angles . They called their land Engla land , meaning "land of the English", by Æthelweard Latinized Anglia , from an original Anglia vetus , the purported homeland of

6272-399: The Kingdom of Scotland. Despite the Union of the Crowns , the kingdoms remained separate and independent states: a state of affairs which lasted for more than a century. The Stuart kings overestimated the power of the English monarchy, and were cast down by Parliament in 1645 and 1688. In the first instance, Charles I 's introduction of new forms of taxation in defiance of Parliament led to

6384-420: The Normans continued collecting the geld regularly. They also introduced new sources of revenue based on concepts of feudalism . The king was entitled to collect a feudal aid when his eldest son was knighted, his eldest daughter married, or if the king needed to pay his own ransom. The heir to a fief was also required to pay the king a feudal relief before he could take possession of his inheritance. The king

6496-404: The Scottish capital, Edinburgh . This arrangement was later finalized in 1237 by the Treaty of York . The Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland took place during the late 12th century, when Anglo-Normans gradually conquered and acquired large swathes of land from the Irish, over which the Kingdom of England then claimed sovereignty, all allegedly sanctioned by the Papal bull Laudabiliter . At

6608-527: The Twelve Houses Astrological by "Morinus" ( Jean-Baptiste Morin ) which George Wharton inserted in his Almanac for 1659. Aubrey suggests that Oughtred was happy to allow the country people to believe that he was capable of conjuring. Aubrey himself had seen a copy of Christopher Cattan 's work on Geomancy annotated by Oughtred. He reported that Oughtred had told Bishop Ward and Elias Ashmole that he had received sudden intuitions or solutions to problems when standing in particular places, or leaning against

6720-512: The abolition of feudal tenure during the Civil War , as confirmed by the Tenures Abolition Act 1660 passed under the Restoration which took away knight-service and other legal rights. Tenure by knight-service was abolished and discharged and the lands covered by such tenures, including once-feudal baronies, were henceforth held by socage ( i.e. , in exchange for monetary rents). The English Fitzwalter Case in 1670 ruled that barony by tenure had been discontinued for many years and any claims to

6832-516: The advowson of Compton church (still occupied) in trust to Roger Heath and Simon Caryll, to present Oughtred himself, or any other person whom Oughtred should nominate, when the vacancy should arise. Soon afterwards Oughtred was approached by John Tichborne seeking his own nomination, and entering an agreement to pay him a sum of money upon certain days. Before this could be completed the incumbent died (November 1618), and Oughtred sought for himself to be presented, preaching several times at Compton, having

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6944-411: The battle with the Norwegians. The armies of Harold and William faced each other at the Battle of Hastings (14 October 1066), in which the English army, or Fyrd , was defeated, Harold and his two brothers were slain, and William emerged as victor. William was then able to conquer England with little further opposition. He was not, however, planning to absorb the Kingdom into the Duchy of Normandy . As

7056-456: The chairman and many other Presbyterian members were stiff against him, yet he was cleared by the major number." Of his portrait (aged 73, 1646) engraved by Wenceslas Hollar , prefixed to the Clavis Mathematica , John Evelyn remarked that it "extreamly resembles him", and that it showed "that calm and placid Composure, which seemed to proceed from, and be the result of some happy ἕυρησις and Invention". William Oughtred died at Albury in 1660,

7168-429: The circle by consideration of the fourth chapter of the Book of Ezekiel . In 1634 he corresponded with the French architect François Derand , and (among others) with Sir Charles Cavendish (1635), Johannes Banfi Hunyades (1637), William Gascoigne (1640) and Dr John Twysden, M.D. (1650). Oughtred offered free mathematical tuition to pupils, among them Richard Delamain and Jonas Moore , and his teaching influenced

7280-407: The commercial issues. In April 1653 Cromwell and the other Grandees of the New Model Army , frustrated with the members of the Rump Parliament who would not pass legislation to dissolve the Rump and to allow a new more representative parliament to be elected, stopped the Rump's session and declared the Rump dissolved. After an experiment with a Nominated Assembly ( Barebone's Parliament ),

7392-446: The continental possessions of the Duchy to Philip II of France in 1204 and decisively after the Battle of Bouvines in 1214. A few remnants of Normandy , including the Channel Islands , remained in John's possession, together with most of the Duchy of Aquitaine. Up until the Norman Conquest of England, Wales had remained for the most part independent of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms , although some Welsh kings did sometimes acknowledge

7504-430: The death of Harthacnut in June 1042. He was the son of Canute and Emma of Normandy (the widow of Æthelred the Unready) and had no heirs of his own; he was succeeded by his half-brother, Æþelræd's son, Edward the Confessor . The peace lasted until the death of the childless Edward in January 1066. His brother-in-law was crowned King Harold , but his cousin William the Conqueror , Duke of Normandy, immediately claimed

7616-408: The description, explanations and instructions which Oughtred had in manuscript, finishing his work in 1632. Meanwhile Delamaine, who had also been shown the instruments, and had copied a text sent by Oughtred to his instrument-maker Elias Allen , was writing-up his own description and account. Delamaine came off the press first, in two separate tracts, claiming himself to be the inventor, and dedicating

7728-441: The despite of Art, losse of precious time, and betraying of willing and industrious wits, unto ignorance, and idlenesse. ... the use of Instruments is indeed excellent, if a man be an Artist: but contemptible, being set and opposed to Art. And lastly, ... he meant to commend to me, the skill of Instruments, but first he would have me well instructed in the Sciences." Forster obtained Oughtred's permission to translate, edit and publish

7840-553: The disastrous Raid on the Medway and forced the humiliated Charles in to an unfavourable peace treaty . The treaty eliminated a number of long-standing issues, and in the long-term made it possible for the two countries to unite against the expansionist policies pursued by Louis XIV of France . In the short-term however, Charles' desire to avenge this setback led to the Third Anglo-Dutch War in 1672. Despite attaining French support this time, Dutch naval successes made Parliament unwilling to support Charles' war effort any further, and he

7952-449: The effect of aligning England with Scotland, which also gradually adopted a Protestant religion, whereas the most important continental powers, France and Spain, remained Roman Catholic. The "Tudor conquest" (or reconquest ) of Ireland' took place under the Tudor dynasty. Following a failed rebellion against the crown by Silken Thomas , the Earl of Kildare , in the 1530s, Henry VIII was declared King of Ireland in 1542 by statute of

8064-724: The evolution of the English Parliament . From the 1340s, English claims to the French throne were held in pretense, but after the Hundred Years' War and the outbreak of the Wars of the Roses in 1455, the English were no longer in any position to pursue their French claims and lost all their land on the continent, except for Calais . After the turmoils of the Wars of the Roses, the Tudor dynasty ruled during

8176-542: The first king to reign over a united England. In 886, Alfred the Great retook London, which he apparently regarded as a turning point in his reign. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle says that "all of the English people ( all Angelcyn ) not subject to the Danes submitted themselves to King Alfred." Asser added that "Alfred, king of the Anglo-Saxons, restored the city of London splendidly ... and made it habitable once more." Alfred's restoration entailed reoccupying and refurbishing

8288-847: The first motions were performed most properly by the Globe itself, rectified to the present elevation by the help of a moveable Azimuth ; he projected the Globe upon the plane of the Horizon, and applied to it at the center, which was therein the Zenith , an Index with projected degrees, for the moveable Azimuth." This projection answered his search, but then he had to invent theorems, problems and methods to calculate sections and intersections of large circles, which he could not find by instruments, not having access to any of sufficient size. In this way he drew out his findings, presenting one example to Bishop Thomas Bilson (who had ordained him), and another, in about 1606, to

8400-675: The foundations of the British Empire via colonization of the Americas . The accession of James VI and I in 1603 resulted in the Union of the Crowns , with the Stuart dynasty ruling the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland . Under the Stuarts, England plunged into civil war , which culminated in the execution of Charles I in 1649. The monarchy returned in 1660, but the Civil War had established

8512-478: The gradual unification of the early medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdoms known as the Heptarchy : East Anglia , Mercia , Northumbria , Kent , Essex , Sussex , and Wessex . The Viking invasions of the 9th century upset the balance of power between the English kingdoms, and native Anglo-Saxon life in general. The English lands were unified in the 10th century in a reconquest completed by King Æthelstan in 927. During

8624-469: The king's income derived from the royal demesne and the annual " farm " from each shire (the fixed sum paid by sheriffs for the privilege of administering and profiting from royal lands). Kings also made income from judicial fines and regulation of trade. People owed the king service in the form of the trinoda necessitas — fyrd service, burh building, and bridge building. After the Conquest of 1066,

8736-548: The kingdom's naval strength, on the foundations Henry VIII had laid down. By 1588, her new navy was strong enough to defeat the Spanish Armada , which had sought to invade England to halt English support for the Dutch rebels and to put a Catholic monarch on the throne in her place. The House of Tudor ended with the death of Elizabeth I on 24 March 1603. James I ascended the throne of England and brought it into personal union with

8848-423: The method of employing it. Gunter required the use of a pair of dividers to lay off distances on his rule; Oughtred made the step of sliding two rules past each other to achieve the same ends. His original design of some time in the 1620s was for a circular slide rule ; but he was not the first into print with this idea, which was published by Delamain in 1630. The conventional design of a sliding middle section for

8960-578: The most famous mathematician of all Europe, Mr. William Oughtred, parson of Aldbury in Surry, was in danger of sequestration by the Committee of or for plundered ministers ; ( Ambo-dexters they were;) several inconsiderable articles were deposed and sworn against him, material enough to have sequestered him, but that, upon his day of hearing, I applied myself to Sir Bolstrode Whitlock , and all my own old friends, who in such numbers appeared in his behalf, that though

9072-594: The multiplication sign as now used universally, but also the proportion sign (double colon ::). The first edition, 1631, contained 20 chapters and 88 pages including algebra and various fundamentals of mathematics. The work was recast for the New Key, which appeared first in an English edition of 1647, The Key of the Mathematicks New Forged and Filed , dedicated to Sir Richard Onslow and to his son Arthur Onslow (son and grandson of Sir Edward), and then in

9184-532: The nearly deserted Roman walled city, building quays along the Thames , and laying a new city street plan. During the following years Northumbria repeatedly changed hands between the English kings and the Norwegian invaders, but was definitively brought under English control by Eadred in 954, completing the unification of England. At about this time, Lothian , a portion of the northern half of Northumbria ( Bernicia ),

9296-487: The number of hides they owned. After the Norman Conquest, the king's household troops remained central to any royal army. The Anglo-Saxon fyrd also remained in use. But the Normans also introduced a new feudal element to the English military. The king's tenants-in-chief (his feudal barons ) were obligated to provide mounted knights for service in the royal army or to garrison royal castles . The total number of knights owed

9408-404: The overlordship of the Norman kings of England. Edward I defeated Llywelyn ap Gruffudd , and so effectively conquered Wales, in 1282. He created the title Prince of Wales for his heir, the future Edward II , in 1301. Edward I's conquest was brutal and the subsequent repression considerable, as the magnificent Welsh castles such as Conwy , Harlech , and Caernarfon attest. Edward III

9520-580: The precedent that an English monarch cannot govern without the consent of Parliament. This concept became legally established as part of the Glorious Revolution of 1688. From this time the kingdom of England, as well as its successor state the United Kingdom, functioned in effect as a constitutional monarchy . On 1 May 1707, under the terms of the Acts of Union 1707 , the parliaments, and therefore Kingdoms, of both England and Scotland were mutually abolished. Their assets and estates united 'for ever, into

9632-410: The previous division between the Norman lords and their Anglo-Saxon subjects. This was a consequence of sustained hostility to the increasingly nationalist French, whose kings and other leaders (notably the charismatic Joan of Arc ) used a developing sense of French identity to help draw people to their cause. The kingdom had little time to recover before entering the Wars of the Roses (1455–1487),

9744-411: The prior treatise to King Charles I . He went so far as to show his page-proofs to Oughtred as they were being prepared, and dismissed his objections, printing some derogatory comments aimed at Forster and Oughtred in his Foreword. Forster, who dedicated The Circles of Proportion to the famous intellectual Sir Kenelm Digby , observed that another person had hastily anticipated Oughtred's publication. It

9856-523: The rectorate of St Mary's Church, Guildford , Surrey. At the presentation of the lay patron George Austen , gent., he was instituted as vicar at Shalford near Wonersh , in the neighbourhood of Guildford in western Surrey , on 2 July 1605. On 20 February 1606, at Shalford, Oughtred married Christsgift Caryll, a member of the Caryll family seated at Great Tangley Hall at Shalford. The Oughtreds had twelve children, William, Henry, Henry (the first Henry died as

9968-723: The reign of Æthelred the Unready (978–1016), a new wave of Danish invasions was orchestrated by Sweyn I of Denmark , culminating after a quarter-century of warfare in the Danish conquest of England in 1013. But Sweyn died on 2 February 1014, and Æþelræd was restored to the throne. In 1015, Sweyn's son Cnut (commonly known as Canute) launched a new invasion. The ensuing war ended with an agreement in 1016 between Canute and Æþelræd's successor, Edmund Ironside , to divide England between them, but Edmund's death on 30 November of that year left England united under Danish rule. This continued for 26 years until

10080-591: The short tracts added to the 1647/48 editions of the Clavis Mathematica was one describing a natural and easy way of delineating sun-dials upon any surface, however positioned, which the author states he invented in his 23rd year (1597/98), which is to say, during his fellowship at King's College, Cambridge . His early preoccupation was to find a portable instrument or dial by which to find the hour, he tried various contrivances, but never to his satisfaction. "At last, considering that all manner of questions concerning

10192-592: The terms" of the Acts would "cease and become void". The English and Scottish Parliaments were merged into the Parliament of Great Britain , located in Westminster , London. At this point England ceased to exist as a separate political entity, and since then has had no national government . The laws of England were unaffected, with the legal jurisdiction continuing to be that of England and Wales , while Scotland continued to have its own laws and law courts. This continued after

10304-627: The throne for himself. William launched an invasion of England and landed in Sussex on 28 September 1066. Harold and his army were in York following their victory against the Norwegians at the Battle of Stamford Bridge (25 September 1066) when the news reached him. He decided to set out without delay and confront the Norman army in Sussex so marched southwards at once, despite the army not being properly rested following

10416-506: The time, Gaelic Ireland was made up of several kingdoms, with a High King claiming lordship over most of the other kings. The Duchy of Aquitaine came into personal union with the Kingdom of England upon the accession of Henry II , who had married Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine . The Kingdom of England and the Duchy of Normandy remained in personal union until John Lackland , Henry II's son and fourth-generation descendant of William I, lost

10528-535: The transfer of the English capital city and chief royal residence from the Anglo-Saxon one at Winchester to Westminster , and the City of London quickly established itself as England's largest and principal commercial centre. Histories of the Kingdom of England from the Norman Conquest of 1066 conventionally distinguish periods named after successive ruling dynasties: Norman/Angevin 1066–1216, Plantagenet 1216–1485, Tudor 1485–1603 and Stuart 1603–1707 (interrupted by

10640-472: The twice-yearly Journal of the Oughtred Society and holds meetings and auctions for its members. Kingdom of England The Kingdom of England was a sovereign state on the island of Great Britain from the early tenth century, when it was unified from various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms , until 1 May 1707, when it united with Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain , which would later become

10752-420: The use of natal astrology , and used to say that he did not know why it should be effective, but believed that some "genius" or "spirit" assisted. According to Aubrey, Elias Ashmole possessed the original copy in Oughtred's handwriting of his rational division of the twelve houses of the zodiac . Oughtred penned an approving testimonial, dated 16 October 1659, to the foot of the English abstract of The Cabal of

10864-694: The use of his important invention, the slide rule , a mechanical means of finding logarithmic results. Two of Oughtred's students, William Forster and Richard Delamaine the elder, are concerned with the story of this book. As instructor to the Earl of Arundel's son, Oughtred had the use of a room in Arundel House , the Earl's residence in the Strand , in London. He gave free instruction there to Richard Delamaine, whom he found to be too dependent on mathematical instruments to get

10976-469: The whole Mathematic(s)"). It was dedicated to William Howard , son of Oughtred's patron Thomas Howard, 14th Earl of Arundel . This is a textbook on elementary algebra. It begins with a discussion of the Hindu-Arabic notation of decimal fractions and later introduces multiplication and division sign abbreviations of decimal fractions. Oughtred also discussed two ways to perform long division and introduced

11088-408: Was a collection compiled from Oughtred's papers by Richard Stokes and Arthur Haughton. It contains about 36 pages of writing. Here the abbreviations for the trigonometric functions are explained in further detail consisting of mathematical tables. It carries a frontispiece portrait of Oughtred similar to that by Wenceslas Hollar, but re-engraved by William Faithorne , and depicted as aged 83, and with

11200-575: Was again forced to make peace. Following the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660, an attempt by James II to reintroduce Roman Catholicism—a century after its suppression by the Tudors—led to the Glorious Revolution of 1688, in which he was exiled by the Dutch prince William of Orange . William and his wife Mary were subsequently crowned by Parliament. William reoriented England's foreign policy to support

11312-402: Was also entitled to his vassals military service, but vassals could pay scutage instead. In the Anglo-Saxon period, England had no standing army. The king and magnates retained professional household troops ( see housecarl ), and all free men were obligated to perform military service in the fyrd . In addition, holders of bookland were obligated to provide a certain number of men based on

11424-460: Was called the servitium debitum (Latin: "service owed"), and historian Richard Huscroft estimates this number was around 5,000. In reality, the servitium debitum was greater than any king would actually need in wartime. Its main purpose was for assessing how much scutage the king was owed. Scutage was used to pay for mercenaries , which were an important part of any Norman army. Annates Too Many Requests If you report this error to

11536-486: Was ceded to the Kingdom of Scotland . On 12 July 927 the monarchs of Britain gathered at Eamont in Cumbria to recognise Æthelstan as king of the English. The title "King of the English" or Rex Anglorum in Latin, was first used to describe Æthelstan in one of his charters in 928. The standard title for monarchs from Æthelstan until John was "King of the English". England has remained in political unity ever since. During

11648-455: Was left to Oughtred himself to publish his Just Apologie explaining the priority of his inventions and writings, and showing the behaviour of Delamaine. It is stated in Cajori's book that John Napier was the first person to use to the decimal point and comma, but Bartholomaeus Pitiscus was really the first to do so. Trigonometria, Hoc est, Modus Computandi Triangulorum Latera & Angulos

11760-439: Was married to Jane, daughter of Sir Edward Onslow of Knowle, Surrey in 1638. Oughtred praised Gerald (whom he taught) as a man of great piety and learning, skilled in Latin, Greek, Hebrew and other oriental languages. In January 1610 Sir George More , patron of Compton church adjacent to Loseley Park , granted the advowson (right of presentation of the minister) to Oughtred, when it should next fall vacant, though Oughtred

11872-459: Was not thereby empowered to present himself to the living. This was soon after Sir George More became reconciled to the marriage of his daughter Anne to the poet John Donne , which had occurred secretly in 1601. Oughtred was presented by Sir (Edward) Randall (lord of the manor) to the rectory of Albury , near Guildford in Surrey and instituted on 16 October 1610, vacating Shalford on 18 January 1611. In January 1615/16 Sir George More re-granted

11984-529: Was now further elucidated. These editions contained additional tracts on the resolution of adfected equations proposed in numbers, and other materials necessary for the use of decimal parts and logarithms, as well as his work on delineating sundials. The last lifetime edition (third) was in 1652, and posthumous editions (as Clavis Mathematicæ : i.e. "The Key of Mathematic(s)") appeared in 1667 and 1693 (Latin), and in 1694 (English). The work gained popularity around 15 years after it first appeared, as mathematics took

12096-568: Was recalled and there was a second period where the executive power lay with the Council of state. But this restoration of Commonwealth rule, similar to that before the Protectorate, proved to be unstable, and the exiled claimant, Charles II , was restored to the throne in 1660. In 1665 the unresolved commercial issues with the Dutch led to the Second Anglo-Dutch War , which culminated in

12208-636: Was reinforced through repetition by Thomas De Quincey , and elaborated by Jean-Marie Ragon , but was debunked in A.G. Mackey 's History of Freemasonry (1906). Ashmole noted that he paid a visit to "Mr. Oughtred, the famous mathematician", on 15 September 1654, about three weeks after the Astrologers' Feast of that year. Oughtred expressed millenarian views to John Evelyn in 1655: "Came that renowned mathematician, Mr. Oughtred, to see me, I sending my coach to bring him to Wotton , being now very aged. Among other discourse, he told me he thought water to be

12320-454: Was shown two instruments used by his master, including Oughtred's circular slide rule. Oughtred then said to Forster: "... the true way of Art is not by Instruments, but by Demonstration: and ... it is a preposterous course of vulgar Teachers, to begin with Instruments, and not with the Sciences, and so in-stead of Artists, to make their Schollers only doers of tricks, and as it were Iuglers: to

12432-463: Was the first English king to have a claim to the throne of France . His pursuit of the claim resulted in the Hundred Years' War (1337–1453), which pitted five kings of England of the House of Plantagenet against five kings of France of the Capetian House of Valois . Extensive naval raiding was carried out by all sides during the war, often involving privateers such as John Hawley of Dartmouth or

12544-564: Was to be the first Lord Protector. The Instrument of Government was replaced by a second constitution (the Humble Petition and Advice ) under which the Lord Protector could nominate his successor. Cromwell nominated his son Richard who became Lord Protector on the death of Oliver on 3 September 1658. Richard proved to be ineffectual and was unable to maintain his rule. He resigned his title and retired into obscurity. The Rump Parliament

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