Bartholomew Price facts for kids
Bartholomew Price (born 1818 – died 29 December 1898) was an important English mathematician, a church leader (clergyman), and a teacher. He is perhaps best known today as one of the teachers of Lewis Carroll, the famous author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
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Life and Learning
Bartholomew Price was born in a place called Coln St Denis in Gloucestershire in 1818. He went to Pembroke College, Oxford, for his education. He was very good at math! In 1840, he earned a top grade in mathematics. Then, in 1842, he won a special university math scholarship.
Because he was so smart, he became a fellow at Pembroke College in 1844. A fellow is like a senior member or a teacher at the college. In 1845, he became a tutor and a math lecturer there. He quickly became a very important math teacher at the university.
Important Math Books
Bartholomew Price wrote some very important math books. In 1848, he published a book on Differential Calculus. Then, between 1852 and 1860, he wrote a four-volume series called Infinitesimal Calculus. These books were used as the main textbooks for math students at Oxford for a long time. These books covered advanced math topics like how things change and how to measure areas and volumes using special math tools.
Professor and College Master
In 1853, Bartholomew Price was given a special job. He became the Sedleian professor of natural philosophy. This means he was a professor who taught about science and how the world works. He held this important position until 1898.
He was also very active in running Oxford University. He worked with the Hebdomadal Council, which helped make decisions for the university. He was also in charge of the Clarendon Press, which is a famous publishing house at Oxford. For many years, he was its secretary.
He also helped look after the Bodleian Library, a very old and famous library. He was an honorary fellow at the Queen's College, Oxford and helped govern Winchester College. He even visited the Greenwich Observatory, which is famous for studying stars and time.
In 1891, he became the Master of Pembroke College. This was a very high honor. Being the Master also meant he became a special church leader (a canon) at Gloucester Cathedral. He even gave an interesting astronomical clock to Gloucester Cathedral.
He also helped lead Abingdon School from about 1887 until he passed away.
His Legacy and Lewis Carroll
Bartholomew Price passed away in December 1898 and was buried in Holywell Cemetery in Oxford.
Today, many people remember Professor Price because he taught Lewis Carroll. Lewis Carroll is the writer who created Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. It's thought that a character in the book, the Mad Hatter, sings a song called "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Bat". This song is a funny version of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". People believe that the "bat" in the song was a playful nickname for Bartholomew Price!
Writings
Here are some of the important books Bartholomew Price wrote:
- An essay on the relation of the several parts of a mathematical science to the fundamental idea therein contained (1849)
- A Treatise on Infinitesimal Calculus v. 1: Differential calculus (1857)
- A Treatise on Infinitesimal Calculus v. 2. Integral calculus and calculus of variations
- A Treatise on Infinitesimal Calculus v. 3. Statics attractions, dynamics of material particle
- A Treatise on Infinitesimal Calculus v. 4: The dynamics of material systems (1862)
