Thomas Hariot
Thomas Hariot
The Mathematician, the Philosopher and the Scholar.
Very little is known of Thomas Hariot; his only published works are the 'Briefe and true report' and the posthumous 'Praxis', a handbook of algebra. He anticipated the law of refraction, corresponded with Kepler, observed comets, and may have been the first to recognize that the straight line paths of comets might be segments of elongated ellipses. The lost 'ephemera' referred to in the text have since been found (since 1876) and a conference was held in 1970 at the University of Delaware on the current state of Hariot research, the proceedings of which have been published by the Oxford University Press, where one may find a fairly current view of the historical record.
Book Excerpt
eted, ít remained to be decided in
what manner they should be published. I did not feel myself competent to
pick up the fallen reins of the HERCULES CLUB, which, as I have said
before, appears never to have been fully inaugurated on the intended
co-operative basis.
There being now no constituted association (such having entirely lapsed on the death of Mr. ' Secretary Outis'), and many of the original subscribers, who were ipso facto members, being also no longer with us, it appeared impossible to put forth the volumes as the publications of the HERCULES CLUB. Consequently I resolved to issue them myself (and any future volumes I may be able to bring to completion) simply as privately printed books, and I feel perfectly justified in so doing, as no one but Mr. Henry Stevens had any hand in their design or production either editorially or financially. No money whatever was received from the members, whose subscriptions were only to become payable when the publications were ready for delivery. The surviving m
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