William George Horner
Encyclopedia
William George Horner was a British
mathematician
and schoolmaster. The invention of the zoetrope
, in 1834 and under a different name (Daedaleum), has been attributed to him.
. He was educated at Kingswood School, near Bristol, and at the age of sixteen became an assistant master there. In four years he rose to be head master (1806), and in 1809 left to establish a school at Grosvenor Place, Bath, which he kept until he died there 22 September 1837. He left a widow and several children, one of whom, William Horner, carried on the school.
, he first made it known in a paper read before the Royal Society
, 1 July 1819, by Davies Gilbert
, headed A New Method of Solving Numerical Equations of all Orders by Continuous Approximation, and published in the Philosophical Transactions for the same year. But this version of the history is comprehensively denied by later historians. De Morgan's advocacy of Horner's priority in discovery led to "Horner's method" being so called in textbooks, but this is a misnomer. Not only did the 1819 paper not contain that method, it appeared in an 1820 paper by Theodore Holdred, being published by Horner only in 1830; and the method was by no means novel, having appeared in the work of the Chinese mathematician Zhu Shijie
centuries before, and also in the work of Paolo Ruffini
.
The method was republished by Horner in the Ladies' Diary for 1838, and a simpler and more extended version appeared in vol. i. of the Mathematician, 1843.
Horner also published:
A complete edition of Horner's works was promised by Thomas Stephens Davies
, but never appeared.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
mathematician
Mathematician
A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
and schoolmaster. The invention of the zoetrope
Zoetrope
A zoetrope is a device that produces an illusion of action from a rapid succession of static pictures. The term zoetrope is from the Greek words "ζωή – zoe", "life" and τρόπος – tropos, "turn". It may be taken to mean "wheel of life"....
, in 1834 and under a different name (Daedaleum), has been attributed to him.
Life
The son of the Rev. William Horner, a Wesleyan minister, was born in BristolBristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
. He was educated at Kingswood School, near Bristol, and at the age of sixteen became an assistant master there. In four years he rose to be head master (1806), and in 1809 left to establish a school at Grosvenor Place, Bath, which he kept until he died there 22 September 1837. He left a widow and several children, one of whom, William Horner, carried on the school.
Works
Horner published a mode of solving numerical equations of any degree, now known as Horner's method. According to Augustus De MorganAugustus De Morgan
Augustus De Morgan was a British mathematician and logician. He formulated De Morgan's laws and introduced the term mathematical induction, making its idea rigorous. The crater De Morgan on the Moon is named after him....
, he first made it known in a paper read before the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
, 1 July 1819, by Davies Gilbert
Davies Gilbert
Davies Gilbert FRS was a British engineer, author, and politician. He was elected to the Royal Society on 17 November 1791 and served as President of the Royal Society from 1827 to 1830....
, headed A New Method of Solving Numerical Equations of all Orders by Continuous Approximation, and published in the Philosophical Transactions for the same year. But this version of the history is comprehensively denied by later historians. De Morgan's advocacy of Horner's priority in discovery led to "Horner's method" being so called in textbooks, but this is a misnomer. Not only did the 1819 paper not contain that method, it appeared in an 1820 paper by Theodore Holdred, being published by Horner only in 1830; and the method was by no means novel, having appeared in the work of the Chinese mathematician Zhu Shijie
Zhu Shijie
Zhu Shijie , courtesy name Hanqing , pseudonym Songting , was one of the greatest Chinese mathematicians lived during the Yuan Dynasty....
centuries before, and also in the work of Paolo Ruffini
Paolo Ruffini
Paolo Ruffini was an Italian mathematician and philosopher.By 1788 he had earned university degrees in philosophy, medicine/surgery, and mathematics...
.
The method was republished by Horner in the Ladies' Diary for 1838, and a simpler and more extended version appeared in vol. i. of the Mathematician, 1843.
Horner also published:
- ‘A Tribute of Friendship,’ a poem addressed to his friend Thomas Fussell, appended to a ‘Funeral Sermon on Mrs. Fussell,’ Bristol, 1820.
- ‘Natural Magic,’ a pamphlet on opticsOpticsOptics is the branch of physics which involves the behavior and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. Optics usually describes the behavior of visible, ultraviolet, and infrared light...
dealing with virtual imageVirtual imageIn optics, a virtual image is an image in which the outgoing rays from a point on the object always diverge. It will appear to converge in or behind the optical device . A simple example is a flat mirror where the image of oneself is perceived at twice the distance from oneself to the mirror...
s, London, 1832. - ‘Questions for the Examination of Pupils on … General History,’ Bath, 1843, 12mo.
A complete edition of Horner's works was promised by Thomas Stephens Davies
Thomas Stephens Davies
Thomas Stephens Davies was a British mathematician.Davies made his earliest communications to the Leeds Correspondent in July 1817 and the Gentleman's Diary for 1819...
, but never appeared.