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  Hubert 
  Anson 
  Newton. 
  

  

  Young 
  Newton, 
  whose 
  mental 
  endowments 
  were 
  thus 
  evi- 
  

   dently 
  inherited, 
  and 
  whose 
  controlling 
  tastes 
  were 
  manifested 
  

   at 
  a 
  very 
  early 
  age, 
  fitted 
  for 
  college 
  at 
  the 
  schools 
  of 
  Sherburne, 
  

   and 
  at 
  the 
  age 
  of 
  sixteen 
  entered 
  Yale 
  College 
  in 
  the 
  class 
  

   graduating 
  in 
  1850. 
  After 
  graduation 
  he 
  pursued 
  his 
  mathe- 
  

   matical 
  studies 
  at 
  New 
  Haven 
  and 
  at 
  home, 
  and 
  became 
  tutor 
  

   at 
  Yale 
  in 
  January, 
  1853, 
  when 
  on 
  account 
  of 
  the 
  sickness 
  and 
  

   death 
  of 
  Professor 
  Stanley 
  the 
  whole 
  charge 
  of 
  the 
  mathematical 
  

   department 
  devolved 
  on 
  him 
  from 
  the 
  first. 
  

  

  In 
  1855, 
  he 
  was 
  appointed 
  professor 
  of 
  mathematics 
  at 
  the 
  

   early 
  age 
  of 
  twenty-five. 
  This 
  appointment 
  testifies 
  to 
  the 
  

   confidence 
  which 
  was 
  felt 
  in 
  his 
  abilities, 
  and 
  is 
  almost 
  the 
  

   only 
  instance 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  Yale 
  Corporation 
  has 
  conferred 
  the 
  

   dignity 
  of 
  a 
  full 
  professorship 
  on 
  so 
  young 
  a 
  man. 
  

  

  This 
  appointment 
  being 
  accompanied 
  with 
  a 
  leave 
  of 
  absence 
  

   for 
  a 
  year, 
  in 
  order 
  to 
  give 
  him 
  the 
  opportunity 
  to 
  study 
  in 
  

   Europe, 
  it 
  was 
  but 
  natural 
  that 
  he 
  should 
  be 
  attracted 
  to 
  Paris, 
  

   where 
  Chasles 
  was 
  expounding 
  at 
  the 
  Sorbonne 
  that 
  modern 
  

   higher 
  geometry 
  of 
  which 
  he 
  was 
  to 
  so 
  large 
  an 
  extent 
  the 
  

   creator, 
  and 
  which 
  appeals 
  so 
  strongly 
  to 
  the 
  sense 
  of 
  the 
  beauti- 
  

   ful. 
  And 
  it 
  was 
  inevitable 
  that 
  the 
  student 
  should 
  be 
  profoundly 
  

   impressed 
  by 
  the 
  genius 
  of 
  his 
  teacher, 
  and 
  by 
  the 
  fruitful- 
  

   ness 
  and 
  elegance 
  of 
  the 
  methods 
  which 
  he 
  was 
  introducing. 
  

   The 
  effect 
  of 
  this 
  year's 
  study 
  under 
  the 
  inspiring 
  influence 
  of 
  

   such 
  a 
  master 
  is 
  seen 
  in 
  several 
  contributions 
  to 
  the 
  Mathe- 
  

   matical 
  Monthly 
  during 
  its 
  brief 
  existence 
  in 
  the 
  years 
  1858- 
  

   61. 
  One 
  of 
  these 
  was 
  a 
  problem 
  which 
  attracted 
  at 
  once 
  the 
  

   attention 
  of 
  Cayley, 
  who 
  sent 
  a 
  solution. 
  Another 
  was 
  a 
  dis- 
  

   cussion 
  of 
  the 
  problem 
  " 
  to 
  draw 
  a 
  circle 
  tangent 
  to 
  three 
  given 
  

   circles," 
  remarkable 
  for 
  his 
  use 
  of 
  the 
  principle 
  of 
  inversion. 
  

   A 
  third 
  was 
  a 
  very 
  elaborate 
  memoir 
  on 
  the 
  construction 
  of 
  

   curves 
  by 
  the 
  straight 
  edge 
  and 
  compasses, 
  and 
  by 
  the 
  straight 
  

   edge 
  alone. 
  These 
  early 
  essays 
  in 
  geometry 
  show 
  a 
  mind 
  

   thoroughly 
  imbued 
  with 
  the 
  spirit 
  of 
  modern 
  geometry, 
  skilful 
  

   in 
  the 
  use 
  of 
  its 
  methods, 
  and 
  eager 
  to 
  extend 
  the 
  bounds 
  of 
  

   our 
  knowledge. 
  

  

  Nevertheless, 
  although 
  for 
  many 
  years 
  the 
  higher 
  geometry 
  

   was 
  with 
  him 
  a 
  favorite 
  subject 
  of 
  instruction 
  for 
  his 
  more 
  

   advanced 
  students, 
  either 
  his 
  own 
  preferences, 
  or 
  perhaps 
  

   rather 
  the 
  influence 
  of 
  his 
  environment, 
  was 
  destined 
  to 
  lead 
  

   him 
  into 
  a 
  very 
  different 
  field 
  of 
  research. 
  In 
  the 
  attention 
  

   which 
  has 
  been 
  paid 
  to 
  astronomy 
  in 
  this 
  country 
  we 
  may 
  

   recognize 
  the 
  history 
  of 
  the 
  world 
  repeating 
  itself 
  in 
  a 
  new 
  

   country 
  in 
  respect 
  to 
  the 
  order 
  of 
  the 
  development 
  of 
  the 
  

   sciences, 
  or 
  it 
  may 
  be 
  enough 
  to 
  say 
  that 
  the 
  questions 
  which 
  

   nature 
  forces 
  on 
  us 
  are 
  likely 
  to 
  get 
  more 
  attention 
  in 
  a 
  new 
  

   country 
  and 
  a 
  bustling 
  age, 
  than 
  those 
  which 
  a 
  reflective 
  mind 
  

  

  