William Emerson | Mathematician | 20 May

William Emerson | Mathematician | 20 May

William Emerson was a Mathematician. He died on 20 May 1782. He born on 14 May 1701 in Hurworth near Darlington. His father was also a Mathematician and used to taught students at school. 

William himself had a small estate in Wear-dale called Castle Gate situated not far from East-gate where he would repair to work throughout the Summer on projects as disparate as stone-masonry and watchmaking. Unsuccessful as a teacher, he devoted himself entirely to studious retirement. Possessed of remarkable energy and forthrightness of speech, Emerson published many works which are singularly free from errata.

In mechanics he never advanced a proposition which he had not previously tested in practice, nor published an invention without first proving its effects by a model. He was skilled in the science of music, the theory of sounds, and the ancient and modern scales; but he never attained any excellence as a performer. 

Emerson was eccentric and indeed clownish, but he possessed remarkable independence of character and intellectual energy. The boldness with which he expressed his opinions on religious subjects led to his being charged with skepticism, but for this there was no foundation.