Brook Taylor

Taylor, Brook 

Born Aug. 18, 1685, in Edmonton, Middlesex; died Dec. 29, 1731, in London. British mathematician. Fellow of the Royal Society of London (1712).

In 1712, Taylor found a general formula for the expansion of functions in power series, which he published in 1715 in his Methodus incrementorum directa et inversa (Direct and Indirect Methods of Incrementation). In the same work, he initiated the mathematical study of the vibration of a string. He made important contributions to the development of the theory of finite differences. Taylor also wrote on a number of other problems, including perspective, the center of oscillation, the flight of projectiles, the interaction of magnets, and capillarity. He devoted his later years to the study of philosophy.

REFERENCE

Istoriia matematiki s drevneishikh vremen do nachala XIX stoletiia, vol. 2. Moscow, 1970.