Person: Moore, Jonas

Jonas Moore was an English man of science important for his support of mathematics and astronomy.

Moore was greatly influenced by Oughtred in his mathematical studies.
However, he found it difficult to find sufficiently many pupils so Moore was happy to be appointed as a surveyor in 1649.
Moore made a reputation for himself in this job and soon was appointed to other surveying jobs.
The dedication of the republished work shows that Moore was working hard to find favour with the new regime.
In 1663 Moore was sent to Tangier to conduct a survey and to report on its fortifications.
However Moore is not particularly famous for the mathematics which he did: as a mathematician he is best known as the first to use the notation cot.
Rather Moore is famous for his strong support of mathematics and astronomy which made many other mathematical and astronomical advances possible.
Moore, together with the famous diary writer Samuel Pepys, founded the Royal Mathematical School within Christ's Hospital.
Moore became a governor of the school and together with Perkins, a master at the school, he wrote a major mathematical work intended for use at the Royal Mathematical School.
Moore died however before the work could be published.
Moore wrote the sections on arithmetic, geometry, trigonometry and cosmography while the sections on algebra, Euclid and navigation were written by Perkins.
Moore died in 1679 while on a journey from Portsmouth to London.

Born 8 February 1627, Whitelee, Pendle Forest, Lancashire, England. Died 25 August 1679, Godalming, England.

View full biography at MacTutor

Analysis, Astronomy, Geography, Geometry, Origin England

Thank you to the contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0!

O’Connor, John J; Robertson, Edmund F: MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive