James Stirling (mathematician)

James Stirling (born May 1692 in Garden near Stirling , † December 5, 1770 in Edinburgh ) was a Scottish mathematician .

Life

Stirling's grave in Greyfriars Kirkyard (small tomb in the middle)

James Stirling traveled end of 1710 to Oxford, where he served as Snell fellow at January 18, 1711 at Balliol College of Oxford University was enrolled. In October 1711 he received another scholarship ( Bishop Warner Exhibition ). The Stirling family belonged to the Jacobites , supporters of the Stuarts , and after the first Jacobite revolt in 1715, Stirling's scholarships were withdrawn. On the mediation of his friend, the Venetian ambassador Nicholas Tron, he lived in Venice from (probably) 1717 to 1722, and in 1721 attended the University of Padua . After returning to Great Britain, he was a teacher at Watt's Academy in Covent Garden , London for about ten years from 1725 . He was elected a member of the Royal Society in 1726 . From 1734 to 1736 he worked in the summer for the Scotch Mines Company in Leadhills in Lanarkshire , Scotland. At the beginning of May 1737 he was given a permanent position as chief agent, which he held until his death. According to all reports, his work there was very successful. On June 30, 1746 he was elected a member of the Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences . In 1753 he resigned from the Royal Society for financial reasons.

Stirling made contributions to the theory of cubics, Newton's interpolation theory and various series developments. According to him, the Stirling numbers in combinatorics and the Stirling formula for approximating the faculty n ! named for capital n , both of which can be found in his work Methodus Differentialis , published in 1730 .

Stirling is buried in Greyfriars Kirkyard cemetery in Edinburgh.

Fonts

Methodus differentialis , 1764

• Lineæ Tertii Ordinis Neutonianæ, sive Illustratio Tractatus D. Neutoni De Enumeratione Linearum Tertii Ordinis , Edvardi Whistler, Oxoniae (Oxford) 1717 (Latin)
• Methodus Differentialis Newtoniana Illustrata , Philosophical Transactions 30, 1719, pp. 1050-1070 (Latin)
• Methodus Differentialis: sive Tractatus de Summatione et Interpolatione Serierum Infinitarum , G. Strahan, Londini (London) 1730 (Latin; Gallica )
  • The Differential Method: Or, A Treatise Concerning Summation and Interpolation of Infinite Series , E. Cave, London 1749 (English translation by Francis Holliday)
  • Ian Tweddle (Ed.), James Stirling's Methodus Differentialis: An Annotated Translation of Stirling's Text, Sources and Studies in the History of Mathematics and Physical Sciences, Springer 2003
• Of the Figure of the Earth, and the Variation of Gravity on the Surface , Philosophical Transactions 39, 1735, pp. 98-105 (English)
• A Description of a Machine to Blow Fire by the Fall of Water , Philosophical Transactions 43, 1745, pp. 315-317 (English)

literature

• Ian Tweddle: James Stirling. 'This about series and such things' , Scottish Academic Press, Edinburgh 1988

swell

1. ↑ according to MacTutor and Bibmath, see web links
2. ↑ Stirling: Methodus Differentialis , 1730 (Latin; Stirling numbers on p. 8 and p. 11 , Stirling formula with example log ₁₀ (1000!) On p. 137 )

Web links

• John J. O'Connor, Edmund F. Robertson :  James Stirling. In: MacTutor History of Mathematics archive .
• PJ Wallis: Stirling, James , Encyclopedia.com/ Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography, 2008
• Entry for Stirling, James (1692-1770) in the Archives of the Royal Society , London
• James Stirling (may 1692 [Garfield, Ecosse] - 5 December 1770 [Edinbourg]) on Bibmath.net (French)
• Spektrum.de: James Stirling (1692–1770) December 1, 2015