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Issac Barrow

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Mathematician

The Resume

    (October 1630-April 4, 1677)
    Born in London, United Kingdom
    English theologian, mathematician, and Anglican priest
    Made major contributions to calculus including developing the fundamental theory of calculus
    Studied Kappa curves and developed a method for calculating tangents
    Ordained an Anglican (Church of England) priest in 1670
    Translated and edited, Elements of Euclid in 1655
    Wrote; Exposition of the Creed, The Lord's Prayer, Decalogue, and Sacraments, (1669) Lectiones Opticae, (1669) Lectiones Geometricae, (1670) and Lectiones Mathematicae (1670) and Lectiones Mathematicae in 1683
    MA from Trinity College
    Doctor of Divinity by royal decree
    Fluent in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew
    One of his biographers wrote, 'He developed a method of determining tangents that closely approached the methods of calculus and he first recognized that what became known as the process of integration and differentiation in calculus are inverse operations'
    Poet
    Contributed greatly to the science of optics, especially understanding the refraction of light.

Why he might be annoying:

    He was a sloppy dresser and a heavy smoker.
    An Anglican and a Royalist, he allowed his political and religious views to cost him several different academic positions and led to a four year semi-voluntary exile from England.
    He considered algebra to be a branch of logic and not mathematics and wrote, 'Geometry is the basic mathematical science, for it includes arithmetic, and mathematical numbers are simply the signs of geometrical magnitude.'
    At one time or another he was a professor of Mathematics, Greek, and Geometry at Cambridge University.
    His doctorate was in Divinty and not Mathematics.
    He misbehaved so badly as a child that he was thrown out of one school and his father had to pay double tuition to get another school to take him.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He lost his mother when he was four.
    His father was overheard praying that if God were to take any of his children he (his father) could spare Issac the best.
    In college he impressed his teachers so much that when he ran out of money for tuition his teachers taught him for free.
    As Master (the equivalent of college president) of his alma mater, Trinity College he founded its library.
    A ship he was sailing on caught fire destroying all his worldly goods.
    He taught Sir Issac Newton.
    He came from humble beginnings, his father was a cloth wholesaler.
    When a ship he was sailing on was attacked by pirates, he and his fighting skill and courage was given a great deal of the credit for the ship's successful defense.
    He gave very good sermons as a priest.
    He never married.

Credit: tom_jeffords


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 3 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 7 Votes: 57.14% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 4 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 10 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 25 Votes: 52.00% Annoying