Bøker av Charles Hutton

After flooding destroyed several bridges across the Tyne in November 1771, the mathematician Charles Hutton (1737-1823) published this mathematical treatment the following year. The work demonstrates the preferred dimensions of arches and piers, and analyses the force of water they must withstand.

Prior to the advent of computers, no mathematician, physicist or engineer could do without a volume of tables of logarithmic and trigonometric functions. These tables made possible certain calculations which would otherwise be impossible. Unfortunately, carelessness and lazy plagiarism meant that the tables often contained serious errors. Those prepared by Charles Hutton (1737-1823) were notable for their reliability and remained the standard for a century. Hutton had risen, by mathematical ability, hard work and some luck, from humble beginnings to become a professor of mathematics at the Royal Military Academy. His mathematical work was distinguished by utility rather than originality, but his contributions to the teaching of the subject were substantial. This seventh edition was published in 1858 with additional material by Olinthus Gregory (1774-1841). The preliminary matter will be of interest to any modern-day reader who wishes to know how calculation was done before the electronic computer.

Charles Hutton (1737-1823) was professor of mathematics at the Royal Military Academy when he published this two-volume encyclopaedia in 1795-6. He aimed to cover contemporary mathematics and natural philosophy, as well as engineering. The excellent historical and biographical articles make the work a valuable record of eighteenth-century science.