Roger Paman facts for kids

Roger Paman (around 1700 – 1748) was an English mathematician from the 1700s. He is known for his ideas about math and for writing a book that responded to another famous thinker.

About Roger Paman

We don't know much about Roger Paman's early life. He may have studied at Cambridge University. This is because he mentioned a professor from St John's College, Cambridge as his teacher.

His Adventures and Work

Roger Paman went on a famous trip around the world. This was with George Anson's voyage around the world from 1740 to 1744. Paman wrote about this adventure in the introduction of his only book. He returned to England early, in 1742. He came back on one of the ships that left the expedition before it ended.

Before he started his journey, Paman gave his math notes to a philosopher named David Hartley. These notes were shown to the Royal Society in 1742. Because of his work, Paman became a special member, or 'fellow', of the Royal Society in 1743.

His Book and Ideas

In 1745, Roger Paman published his book in London. It was called "The Harmony of the Ancient and Modern Geometry Asserted". This book was his answer to the math ideas of George Berkeley. Berkeley had written his own book, The Analyst, in 1734.

Paman's book was special because it explored a type of math called "calculus in finite differences". He used this to avoid problems with the idea of "infinity" that Berkeley had talked about. Paman also introduced ideas he called minimaius and maximinus. These were early versions of modern math concepts called infimum and supremum.