   nicholas saunderson frs (1682 â 19 april 1739) was an english scientist and mathematician. according to one leading historian of statistics, he may have been the earliest discoverer of bayes theorem.stephen m. stigler, who discovered bayes's theorem?, the american statistician, vol. 37, no. 4, part 1 (nov. 1983), pp. 290â296; collected in stephen m. stigler (1999), statistics on the table: the history of statistical concepts and methods, pp. 291â301, harvard university press isbn 978-0-674-83601-3 (hbk) isbn 978-0-674-00979-0 (pbk). ==biography== saunderson was born at thurlstone, yorkshire, in january 1682. when about a year old he lost his sight through smallpox; but this did not prevent him from acquiring a knowledge of latin and greek, and studying mathematics. as a child, he is also thought to have learnt to read by tracing the engravings on tombstones around st john the baptist church in penistone with his fingers. his early education was at penistone grammar school. in 1707, he arrived in cambridge, staying with his friend joshua dunn, a fellow-commoner at christ's college. during this time, he resided in christ's but was not admitted to the university.according to venn, he was formally admitted to christ's in 1707.  with the permission of the lucasian professor, william whiston, saunderson was allowed to teach, lecturing on mathematics, astronomy and optics. whiston was expelled from his chair on 30 october 1710; at the appeal of the heads of colleges, queen anne awarded saunderson a master of arts degree on 19 november 1711 so that he would be eligible to succeed whiston as lucasian professor. he was chosen as the fourth lucasian professor the next day, defeating the trinity college candidate christopher hussey, backed by richard bentley, when the electors split 6 to 4 in his favour.{{cite book|author=helena m. pycior|title=symbols, impossible numbers, and geometric entanglements: british algebra through the commentaries on newton's universal arithmetick|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=3anacnc-yvic&pg=pa278|accessdate=29 may 2013|date=2 november 2
1682_births 1739_deaths 18th-century_English_mathematicians Blind_people_from_England Deaths_from_scurvy Fellows_of_Christ\'s_College,_Cambridge Fellows_of_the_Royal_Society People_educated_at_Penistone_Grammar_School People_from_Penistone