Person: Vince, Samuel
Samuel Vince came from a working class family but, with the support of several priests, was able to study the mathematical tripos at Cambridge and he was Senior Wrangler in 1775. He wrote many works on mathematics, physics and astronomy. He was Plumian professor of astronomy and experimental philosophy at Cambridge for 25 years.
Mathematical Profile (Excerpt):
- It is clear that Vince obtained a fine mathematical education at that school.
- With financial help from Dr Samuel Cooper of Great Yarmouth, he briefly attended St Paul's School, London ...
- Vince was supported financially to study at the University of Cambridge by the Rev Gervas Holmes (1741-1796) of Gawdy Hall, in Redenhall, Norfolk.
- Gervas Holmes, who had been born in Fressingfield, Suffolk, not only provided Vince with financial support but encouraged Vince to visit him during the university vacations.
- Vince was admitted as a sizar to Gonville and Caius College Cambridge on 9 February 1771 and matriculated in the Michaelmas Term of 1772.
- In 1777 Vince moved from Gonville and Caius College to Sidney Sussex College where he was appointed Samuel Taylor Lecturer.
- Samuel and Mary Vince had one son, Samuel Berney Vince (2 February 1781-14 June 1845), who was educated at Eton and admitted to King's College, Cambridge on 15 December 1799.
- Samuel Vince began publishing the results of his mathematical researches, mostly in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society.
- A little consideration will convince any one how seldom it happens, in the collision of two bodies, that their centres of gravity and point of contact lie in the line of direction of the striking body, yet few writers on mechanics have extended their enquiries any further than this simple case.
- For this work, read at the Royal Society on 15 June 1780, Vince was awarded the Copley Medal by the Royal Society in 1780.
- Vince was presented in 1784 to the rectory of Kirby Bedon, Norfolk, which he occupied for two years before handing over to a curate and moving to the vicarage of South Creak, Norfolk, in 1786.
- Following Shepherd's death in 1796, Vince was elected Plumian professor of astronomy and experimental philosophy at Cambridge.
- Vince's books on mathematics, physics and astronomy include: A treatise on practical astronomy (1790); A plan of a course of lectures on natural philosophy (1793); The principles of fluxions (2 volumes) (1795) (5th edition 1818); The principles of hydrostatics (1796) (4th edition 1812); A complete system of astronomy (1797) (3rd edition 1823); A Treatise on Plane and Spherical Trigonometry with an Introduction, Explaining the Nature and Use of Logarithms.
- Vince's son, Samuel Berney Vince, wrote a number of works, including The Propagation of Christianity was Not Indebted to Any Secondary Causes (1807), Two Discourses Before and After a Confirmation, Explanatory of the Church Catechism and the Nature and Design of the Lord's Supper (1813), and Remarks On The Liturgy Of The United Churches Of England And Ireland (1835).
- Vince is studying a mathematical section of a book with running title similar to 'Principia naturalia'.
- Other academic publications scattered about the study include 'Meditationes algebraicae', 'Vince on the infinite series', and 'Problemata'.
Born 6 April 1749, Fressingfield, Suffolk, England. Died 28 November 1821, Ramsgate, Kent, England.
View full biography at MacTutor
Tags relevant for this person:
Astronomy, Origin England
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References
Adapted from other CC BY-SA 4.0 Sources:
- O’Connor, John J; Robertson, Edmund F: MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive
