Person: Gregory (4), Olinthus
Olinthus Gregory was an English mathematician, author and editor. He was one of the founders of the Royal Astronomical Society.
Mathematical Profile (Excerpt):
- The training that he gave Gregory was of such a high standard that in 1793, at the age of nineteen, Gregory published Lessons, Astronomical and Philosophical.
- Gregory was able to publish that text-book having acquired John Joshua Proby, earl of Carysfort, as his patron.
- Gregory's work, covering a wide range of topics, became a popular school-book.
- At this time Gregory was still being taught by Richard Weston who suggested to him that he contribute, as Weston did himself, to the mathematical problems in the Ladies' Diary.
- Gregory, perhaps encouraged by Hutton, began to think of an academic career.
- Gregory still appears as "Teacher of Mathematics, Cambridge" on the title page of his book A Treatise on Astronomy published in 1802.
- Gregory explains in the Preface of A Treatise on Astronomy that he has religious reason for studying the subject.
- In May 1821 Gregory was appointed to the chair of mathematics at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, and held this post until he retired in June 1838.
- In addition to his duties at Woolwich, Gregory undertook several other tasks.
- Of these fourteen, Gregory was elected to serve on the committee along with John Herschel, Charles Babbage, Henry Colebrooke, Thomas Colby, Daniel Moore, William Pearson, and Francis Baily.
- Gregory served as secretary to the Royal Astronomical Society from 1824 to 1828 and as vice-president in 1829-30.
- Proposals to set up a secular university in London were made in 1825 and Gregory soon added his weight to the movement.
- By the end of the year Gregory was serving on a ten-man committee which had been set up to interview and select the university's teaching staff.
- Let us now look at a few more of Gregory's publications, in addition to those already mentioned above.
- In 1811 Gregory published Letters on the Evidences, Doctrines, and Duties of the Christian Religion.
- Further books by Gregory include: Elements of Plane and Spherical Trigonometry (1816), Mathematics for Practical Men (1825), Memoirs of ...
- The 1838 work is Gregory's Farewell Address on retiring as Professor of Mathematics, delivered on 7 June of that year.
- We should not come away with the impression that all of Gregory's contributions came from his books.
- Gregory received many honours for his achievements.
- Gregory, together with his friend Alexander John Scott, had been the founders of the Institution.
Born 29 January 1774, Yaxley, Huntingdonshire (now Cambridgeshire), England. Died 2 February 1841, Woolwich, near London, England.
View full biography at MacTutor
Tags relevant for this person:
Astronomy, Origin England
Thank you to the contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0! 
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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
