Colin Maclaurin (February, 1698 - June 14,
1746) was a Scottish mathematician.
He was born in Kilmodan, Argyll. His father, the Reverend
John Maclaurin, was the minister of Glendaruel and author of an Irish version of the
Psalms. Colin lost his father in infancy, and his mother before he was nine years old, and was
educated under the care of his uncle, the Reverend Daniel Maclaurin, minister of Kilfinnan. He
entered the University of Glasgow at age eleven, not unusual at the time; but
graduating MA by successfully defending a thesis on the Power of Gravity at age 14 was. After graduation he remained at
Glasgow to study divinity for a period, and in 1717, aged
nineteen, after a competition which lasted for ten days, he was elected professor of mathematics at Marischal College in the University of
Aberdeen.
In the vacations of 1719 and 1721 he went to London, where he became acquainted
with Sir Isaac Newton, Dr. Hoadley, Dr. Samuel
Clarke, and Martin Folkes, and other eminent philosophers, and was admitted a
member of the Royal Society.
In 1722, having provided a competent person to attend to his class for a time at Aberdeen, he travelled on the Continent as
tutor to George Hume, the son of Alexander Hume, 2nd Earl of Marchmont; and during their time in
Lorraine, he wrote his essay on the Percussion of Bodies, which gained the
prize of the Royal Academy of Sciences in 1724. Upon the death of his pupil
at Montpellier he returned to Aberdeen.
In 1725 he was appointed deputy to the mathematical professor at Edinburgh, James Gregory (brother of David Gregory and nephew of the
more famous James Gregory), upon the recommendation of
Isaac Newton. Newton was so impressed with his work, he actually offered to pay Maclaurin's
salary. On November 3 of that year Maclaurin succeeded Gregory. Maclaurin is credited with raising the character of that
University as a school of science.
The first terms of the "Maclaurin series" for some trigonometric functions had been given by Madhava of
Sangamagrama in fourteenth century India. The series was also developed and published by James Gregory, but Maclaurin
wasn't aware of this and published it in Methodus incrementorum directa et inversa. Independently from Euler he discovered the "Euler-Maclaurin formula".
In 1733 he married Anne Stewart, the daughter of Walter Stewart,
the Solicitor General for Scotland, by whom he had seven children.
He actively opposed the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745 and
superintended the operations necessary for the defence of Edinburgh against the Highland army, but upon their entry into the city
he had to flee to York, where he was invited by the Archbishop
of York to reside with him.
Memorial, Greyfriars Kirkyard, Edinburgh
On his journey south he had a fall from his horse, and the fatigue, anxiety, and cold to which he was exposed on that occasion
laid the foundations of dropsy. He returned to Edinburgh after the Jacobite army marched south but died soon after his return.
He is buried at Greyfriars Kirkyard, Edinburgh.
Some of his important works:
- Geometria Organica - 1720
- De Linearum Geometricarum Proprietatibus - 1720
- Treatise on Fluxions - 1742 (763 pages in two volumes.
The first systematic exposition of Newton's methods.)
- Treatise on Algebra - 1748 (two years after his
death.)
- Account of Newton's Discoveries - Incomplete upon his death and published in
1750 or 1748 (sources disagree.)
References
- Anderson, William, The Scottish Nation, Edinburgh, 1867, vol.VII, p.37.
Sources
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