caption death_date death_place birth_place citizenship ethnicity fields birth_date known_for image article_title name alma_mater
portrait -rrb- , which hangs in oriel college , oxford . often claimed to be thomas harriot -lrb- 1602 2 july yes 1621 1560 london , england oxford , england english english astronomy , mathematics , ethnography c. 1560 * -lsb- -rsb- . introducing symbols for `` is less than '' thomasharriot.jpg thomas harriot
 thomas harriot st mary hall , oxford
thomas harriot

thomas harriot -lrb- oxford , `` ca . ''
1560 -- london , 2 july 1621 -rrb- -- or spelled harriott , hariot , or heriot -- was an english astronomer , mathematician , ethnographer , and translator .
he is sometimes credited with the introduction of the potato to the british isles .
harriot was the first person to make a drawing of the moon through a telescope , on 26 july 1609 , over four months before galileo .
after graduating from st mary hall , oxford , harriot travelled to the americas , accompanying the 1585 expedition to roanoke island funded by sir walter raleigh and led by sir ralph lane .
harriot was a vital member of the venture , having translated and learned the carolina algonquian language from two native americans , wanchese and manteo .
on his return to england he worked for the 9th earl of northumberland .
at the earl 's house , he became a prolific mathematician and astronomer to whom the theory of refraction is attributed .
