BEGINNINGS OF MODERN MATHEMATICAL SCIENCE 303 



method of computing logarithms, and an edition of Apollonius 

 from both Greek and Arabic sources. In his paper on An Esti- 

 mate of the Degrees of the Mortality of Mankind, drawn from cu- 

 rious Tables of the Births and Funerals at the City of Breslau; 

 with an Attempt to ascertain the Price of Annuities upon Lives, 

 he laid the foundations of a new and important branch of applied 

 mathematics. Having in boyhood occupied himself with mag- 

 netic experiments, in middle life he travelled in the tropics and 

 made the first magnetic map, published in 1701 under the title "A 

 general chart, showing at one view the variation of the com- 

 pass." Drawing curves on this chart through points of declina- 

 tion, he invented a graphical method of wide future usefulness. 

 From naval captain he became professor of geometry at Oxford, 

 then astronomer royal till his death in 1742. One of his most 

 notable achievements in astronomy was the discovery of actual 

 changes in the apparent relative positions of the fixed stars, 

 Aldebaran, Arcturus, and Sirius answering a question centuries 

 old. 



REFERENCES FOR READING 



Ball. Short History of Mathematics. Chapters XV, XVI. 

 Berry. History of Astronomy. Chapters VIII, IX, X. 

 Brewster. Memoir of Sir Isaac Newton. 

 Lodge. Pioneers of Science. VII, VIII, IX. 

 Mach. Science of Mechanics. 

 Newton. Principia. 



