Other Work
In 1671, or perhaps earlier, he established the theorem that
- ,
the result being true only if θ lie between −(1/4)π and (1/4)π. This formula was later used to calculate digits of π, although more efficient formulas were later discovered.
James Gregory discovered the diffraction grating by passing sunlight through a bird feather and observing the diffraction pattern produced. In particular he observed the splitting of sunlight into its component colours – this occurred a year after Newton had done the same with a prism and the phenomenon was still highly controversial.
Gregory, an enthusiastic supporter of Newton, later had much friendly correspondence with him and incorporated his ideas into his own teaching, ideas which at that time were controversial and considered quite revolutionary.
The crater Gregory on the Moon is named after him. He was the uncle of mathematician David Gregory.
Read more about this topic: James Gregory (mathematician)
Famous quotes containing the word work:
“We visualized her less as a woman at work than as a light widening as it brightened.”
—Elizabeth Bowen (1899–1973)
“They should own who can administer, not they who hoard and conceal; not they who, the greater proprietors they are, are only the greater beggars, but they whose work carves out work for more, opens a path for all.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)