Person: Jones, William
William Jones was a Welsh mathematician who corresponded with many of the important English mathematicians of his day.
Mathematical Profile (Excerpt):
- The answer is simple, he was named Jones since this is the English version of the Welsh Siôn.
- This job saw Jones serving at sea on a voyage to the West Indies, and he taught mathematics and navigation on board ships between 1695 and 1702.
- Navigation was a topic which greatly interested Jones and his first published work was A New Compendium of the Whole Art of Navigation published in 1702.
- After the battle of Vigo, Jones left the navy and became a teacher of mathematics in the coffee houses of London.
- Jones was able to make a living lecturing in coffee houses such as Child's Coffee House in St Paul's Churchyard.
- This was an important position for Jones since Yorke, after a legal career, entered parliament becoming solicitor general (1720), attorney general (1724), lord chief justice (1733), and lord chancellor (1737).
- Jones tutored Yorke for about three years.
- Although of little importance as a research mathematician, William Jones is well known to historians of mathematics since he corresponded with many 17th century mathematicians, including Newton.
- Jones then served on the Royal Society committee set up in 1712 to decide who had invented the infinitesimal calculus, Newton or Leibniz.
- We should now describe how Jones came to be considered an important Newton supporter in the dispute.
- John Collins, famed for his correspondence with a wide range of scientists, had died in 1683 and in 1708 Jones acquired his mathematical papers.
- With assistance from Newton himself, Jones produced Analysis per quantitatum series, fluxiones, ac differentia Ⓣ(Analysis for quantitative series, fluxions and differentiation) in 1711 although it should be noted that this first edition of 1711 did not record either Newton's name nor that of Jones.
- As an appendix to this work Jones added Newton's Tractatus de quadratura curvarum Ⓣ(Treatise on the quadrature of curves) which was a shortened version of the work on analytical calculus which Newton had written in 1691.
- The second edition of Analysis per quantitatum Ⓣ(Analysis of the quantities) published in 1723 did contain a preface written by Jones.
- Another contribution made by Jones towards publishing Newton's work relates to the Methods fluxionum Ⓣ(Methods of fluxions), written by Newton in 1671.
- Jones made a copy of the original Latin, giving it the title Artis analyticae specimina sive geometria analytic Ⓣ(The analytical art of models or analytic geometry) and it was this version which was eventually published.
- In 1731 Jones published Discourses of the Natural Philosophy of the Elements.
- We left our description of the events in Jones' life after he was unsuccessful in obtaining the mastership of Christ's Hospital Mathematical School.
- His two former pupils were by this time men of great influence and were able to obtain various positions for Jones which provided him with an income without requiring any real work.
- She was 25 years old and Jones was 56 at the time of their marriage.
- On his death Jones left a large collection of manuscripts and correspondence which it appears he had intended to publish as a major piece of work.
- Among Jones's manuscripts was another projected mathematical book, which his son, Sir William, had intended, but failed, to publish.
Born 1675, Llanfihangel Tre'r Beirdd, Anglesey, Wales. Died 1 July 1749, London, England.
View full biography at MacTutor
Tags relevant for this person:
Origin Wales, Number Theory, Special Numbers And Numerals
Thank you to the contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0! 
- Github:
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- non-Github:
- @J-J-O'Connor
- @E-F-Robertson
References
Adapted from other CC BY-SA 4.0 Sources:
- O’Connor, John J; Robertson, Edmund F: MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive
