Humphry Ditton facts for kids

Humphry Ditton (born May 29, 1675 – died October 15, 1715) was an important English mathematician. He wrote several influential books and papers during his lifetime.

Early Life and Studies

Humphry Ditton was born in Salisbury on May 29, 1675. He was the only son of Humphry Ditton, a gentleman who held strong religious beliefs different from the main church. Young Humphry studied theology (the study of religion) on his own. For a while, he worked as a Protestant minister in Tonbridge, where he also got married.

Becoming a Mathematician

After his father passed away, Ditton focused mainly on studying mathematics. Thanks to the famous scientist Isaac Newton, Ditton became a mathematics teacher at Christ's Hospital. He also wrote a religious book called A Discourse Concerning the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. This book tried to use mathematical logic to explain its ideas. It was first published in 1712 and was even translated into French and German.

Important Works and Discoveries

Humphry Ditton wrote many important papers and books. Here are some of his key works:

• Of the Tangents of Curves: This was published in a scientific journal called Philosophical Transactions.
• A Treatise on Spherical Catoptrics: This paper was also in Philosophical Transactions. It was later reprinted in other important scientific collections.
• General Laws of Nature and Motion (1705): This book helped explain the ideas of famous scientists like Galileo Galilei and Christiaan Huygens.
• An Institution of Fluxions (1706): This book explained the early ideas of calculus, which was invented by Sir Isaac Newton.

In 1709, Ditton helped publish a book called Synopsis Algebraica of John Alexander. He added his own improvements and corrections to it. In his Treatise on Perspective (1712), Ditton explained his mathematical principles. He even came up with a method that another mathematician, Brook Taylor, later developed further.

Working on Longitude

In 1714, Ditton published The New Law of Fluids. This book discussed how liquids move in very small spaces. He also wrote a section arguing that thinking cannot come from just matter and motion.

Ditton and another person named William Whiston wrote a book together. It was called A new method for discovering the longitude both at sea and land. This book suggested a way to figure out a ship's longitude (its east-west position). Even though Isaac Newton approved of their method, a group called the Board of Longitude decided not to use it.

Humphry Ditton passed away the next year, in 1715. He was buried in Christ Church Greyfriars in central London.