James Gregory Tercentenary Memorial Volume

Abstract

THAT James Gregory was an outstanding figure in the scientific world of the seventeenth century must be generally known. The Gregorian telescope and Gregory's series are familiar evidence that he was an exceptionally gifted man. It is also known that his name, the Anglicized form of Macgregor, is that of a family distinguished in academic circles in no ordinary degree. Perhaps that celebrity owes something to the powder, wholesome but nauseous, prescribed by the great-grandson of James. At the same time it is probably less well known that in a space, of two centuries this family produced a round score of men who rose to professorial or equivalent rank. But of James himself even the few who had studied his published works could have gained only an imperfect estimate. For a more adequate view it will be necessary to consult this admirable volume produced under the editorship of Prof. Turnbull for the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

James Gregory Tercentenary Memorial Volume

Containing his Correspondence with John Collins and his hitherto Unpublished Mathematical Manuscripts, together with Addresses and Essays communicated to the Royal Society of Edinburgh, July 4, 1938. Edited by Prof. Herbert Western Turnbull. (Published for the Royal Society of Edinburgh.) Pp. xii + 524 + 5 plates. (London: G. Bell and Sons, Ltd., 1939.) 25s. net.