Savilian Professor of Geometry

Columns: Name | Years | Education | College as Professor | Notes
Henry Briggs | 1619-1631 | University of Cambridge ( St John 's College ) | Merton College | Briggs was a lecturer in mathematics and in physic ( medicine ) at Cambridge , also becoming the first professor of geometry at Gresham College , London , in 1597 . He had become acquainted with the principles of Napier 's logarithm by 1615 : logarithms aided the calculations of astronomy and navigation that were carried out at Gresham since they allowed multiplication of multi-digit numbers to be carried out through the addition of their logarithms . The innovation that Briggs suggested to Napier was to use steps of 10 ( the common logarithm ) . After two visits by Briggs to John Napier in Edinburgh , they agreed a redefinition of the logarithm process , but Napier wrote in 1617 that the calculations would have to be carried out by others , including Briggs , because of his own ill health . Briggs is regarded as having created one of the most useful systems for mathematics . In 1624 , his main work , Arithmetica logarithmica , was published with calculations of the logarithms of 1 to 20,000 and 90,001 to 100,000 to fourteen decimal places . He died in Merton in 1631 and was buried in the choir of Merton College chapel | Peter Turner | 1631-1648 | St Mary Hall and Christ Church | Merton College | Turner succeeded Briggs as professor of geometry at Gresham College , London , in 1620 ; he succeeded him in the Savilian professorship and resigned as Gresham professor in 1631 . Before this , he had been asked by William Laud ( Archbishop of Canterbury and Chancellor of the University of Oxford ) to help draft new statutes to govern the university ; the final draft was his work , and was published in 1634 . During the English Civil War , he fought on the side of the Royalists and was captured near Stow-on-the-Wold in 1641 ; he was imprisoned in Southwark until an exchange of prisoners in 1643 . He was evicted from his fellowship at Merton and from the professorship by the Parliamentary visitors in charge of the university in 1648 , and died in poverty in 1652 . He appears to have published little of substance , despite a good contemporary reputation as a mathematician and classical scholar | John Wallis | 1649-1703 | University of Cambridge ( Emmanuel College ) | Exeter College | Before he entered Cambridge , Wallis was taught some mathematics at the age of 15 by his elder brother . He later claimed to have been self-taught in mathematics thereafter , saying in his autobiography that he had studied it as a pleasing Diversion , at spare hours , adding that it then was regarded as more for Traders , Merchants , Seamen , Carpenters , Surveyors of Lands , or the like than as a subject for academical study at university level . He developed an interest in cryptography , working on behalf of the Parliamentarians during the English Civil War . He was one of the founding members of the Royal Society , writing over sixty papers and book reviews for it . After his appointment to the chair , he developed his mathematical skills such that he became one of the leading mathematicians of his time : he introduced ∞ { \displaystyle \infty } as the sign for infinity , influenced Isaac Newton with his writings , and took part in various mathematical debates with scholars such as Blaise Pascal and Thomas Hobbes . He was appointed Keeper of the Archives for the university in 1658 , and continued in his posts after the Restoration of Charles II in 1660 until his death at the age of 86 | Edmond Halley | 1704-1742 | The Queen 's College | The Queen 's College | Halley , who later calculated the orbit of what became known as Halley 's comet , was already in correspondence with European astronomers as an undergraduate , writing three scientific papers in this time . He left Oxford to travel to St Helena for the 1677 transit of Mercury , so that he could calculate the distance of the sun ; his work brought him a leading reputation in Europe and election to the Royal Society aged 22 . He questioned Isaac Newton on the orbits of the planets , leading Newton to renew his study of the topic and write his Principia Mathematica in 1687 ; Halley supervised and paid for its publication . He failed to be appointed as Savilian Professor of Astronomy in 1691 , but was appointed by Newton to a position in the Royal Mint instead . His own works included discussion of rainbows , optics and barometers , and he calculated the site of Julius Caesar 's invasion of Britain by reference to the tides . He also carried out navigational surveys on behalf of the Royal Navy and drew up tables calculating the positions of the sun , moon and planets for many centuries . He was appointed Astronomer Royal in 1721 | Nathaniel Bliss | 1742-1764 | Pembroke College | Pembroke College | Bliss was appointed rector of St Ebbe 's Church , Oxford , in 1736 . When he applied to succeed Halley , his supporters included James Bradley ( the Astronomer Royal ) and Robert Smith ( professor of astronomy at the University of Cambridge ) . As professor , he established an observatory ( the fourth in the city ) by attaching his instruments to a part of Oxford city wall near his official house . He provided astronomical measurements to Bradley and George Parker , 2nd Earl of Macclesfield , who had an observatory at Shirburn Castle . Bliss succeeded Bradley as Astronomer Royal in 1762 , but died suddenly in 1764 | Joseph Betts | 1765-1766 | University College | University College | Betts tried and failed to be elected as Savilian Professor of Astronomy in 1763 , the post going to Thomas Hornsby instead . His supporters at that election included George Lee , 3rd Earl of Lichfield ( the university 's Chancellor ) , John Stuart , 3rd Earl of Bute ( Prime Minister 1762-1763 ) , and George Montagu-Dunk , 2nd Earl of Halifax ( Secretary of State ) . He expressed his thanks to them in the dedication of a print of the annular solar eclipse of 1 April 1764 | John Smith | 1766-1796 | Balliol College and St Mary Hall | St Mary Hall | Smith studied at Balliol from 1744 onwards , receiving his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1748 , his Master of Arts degree in 1751 and his Bachelor of Medicine degree in 1753 . He obtained his Doctor of Medicine degree as a member of St Mary Hall , and was working as a doctor in Cheltenham in 1784 , when Abraham Robertson deputised for him . Smith built a stable and a small tenement behind his official house , destroying part of the medieval city wall as he did so , and bequeathed both additions to his successors in the chair in a rather pompous clause in his will

Example questions:
What are the years of the Savilian Professor of Geometry who died on January 18 , 1963 ? | What are the years of the Savilian Professor of Geometry whose college as professor was founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham ? | Who is the Savilian Professor of Geometry whose education had an endowment of £291 million in 2018 , making it the fourth-wealthiest college ? | What is the college as Savilian Professor of Geometry of the professor whose fields of specialization are algebraic and symplectic geometry ?

Answers:
1931-1963 | 1995-1996 | Ioan James | New College