Nicolas Vilant | |
|---|---|
| Born | 12 June 1737 Ferryport-on-Tay, today Tayport, Scotland |
| Died | 27 May 1807 (aged 70) |
| Alma mater | University of St Andrews |
| Known for | Text books |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Mathematics |
| Institutions | University of St Andrews |
Nicolas Vilant FRSE (1737-1807) was a mathematician from Scotland in the 18th century, known for his textbooks. He was a joint founder of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1783. [1]
He was baptised in Ferryport-on-Tay (now called Tayport) on 12 June 1737, the son of Rev William Vilant, the local minister (but of French descent), and his second wife, Jean Wilson. He studied Mathematics at St Andrews University from 1752 under Prof David Gregory. [2]
Vilant was Regius Professor of Mathematics in the University of Saint Andrews from 1765 to his death in 1807. Often ill, he was unable to teach most of this time, and lectures were given by assistants, among them John West. [3] Under Newtonian tradition, he was unable to follow the continental developments in mathematical analysis, like most of his British contemporaries.
He died in St Andrews on 25 May 1807. [4]
He married Elizabeth Brand around 1770. Two of their sons attended St Andrews University.
He was a good mathematician, and his textbooks were very popular until the first years of the 19th century. The most renowned was The Elements of Mathematical Analysis, Abridged for the Use of Students, first printed in 1777 and used as a university textbook from 1783, reprinted for student use.
There are many manuscripts conserved in the archives of the University of Saint Andrews. [5]
John Playfair FRSE, FRS was a Church of Scotland minister, remembered as a scientist and mathematician, and a professor of natural philosophy at the University of Edinburgh. He is best known for his book Illustrations of the Huttonian Theory of the Earth (1802), which summarised the work of James Hutton. It was through this book that Hutton's principle of uniformitarianism, later taken up by Charles Lyell, first reached a wide audience. Playfair's textbook Elements of Geometry made a brief expression of Euclid's parallel postulate known now as Playfair's axiom.
Charles Hutton FRS FRSE LLD was an English mathematician and surveyor. He was professor of mathematics at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich from 1773 to 1807. He is remembered for his calculation of the density of the earth from Nevil Maskelyne's measurements collected during the Schiehallion experiment.
Sir John Leslie, FRSE KH was a Scottish mathematician and physicist best remembered for his research into heat.
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Philip KellandPRSE FRS was an English mathematician. He was known mainly for his great influence on the development of education in Scotland.
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John West (1756-1817) was a mathematician and priest from Scotland.
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Robert Tucker (1832–1905) was an English mathematician, who was secretary of the London Mathematical Society for more than 30 years.
Prof John Edward Aloysius Steggall ARIBA FRSE LLD (1855–1935) was an English mathematician and professor at the University College, Dundee.
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