THE BIOGRAPHY OF AN IMPORTANT ENGLISH ASTRONOMER AND MATHEMATICIAN
OF THE 17th and early 18th Century
LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF ABRAHAM SHARP
By William Cudworth
1889 London first edition in vellum over marbled boards. Illustrated. VG+ Condition
Description: William Cudworth LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF ABRAHAM SHARP -The Yorkshire Mathematician and Astronomer, and Assistant of Flamsteed; with MEMORIALS OF HIS FAMILY AND ASSOCIATED FAMILIES London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington, Ltd, 1889, 8 x 10 in., 342 pp. . Several illustrations.
Condition: Hardbound in quarter vellum finish over marbled boards with gilt title on spine. Top page edges gilt and other edges deckled. Cover has moderate edgewear and some chipping of the vellum at front hinges (see photos). Former owner's initials on flyleaf. Otherwise clean, tightly bound, and unmarked througout. Overall VG+ condition.
Information: The principal biography a British intellectual of note, who made a name for himself as a mathematician and an assistant to the first Astronomer Royal, John Flamsteed who charted the heavens around the time of Newton, in order to facilitate the "lunar" method of determining longitude at sea. Contains biographical information on Sharp, Flamsteed, and Newton; Letters between Flamsteed and Sharp, and chapters on family: John Sharp, parliamentarian; Rev Thomas Sharp; The Family of John Sharp, Royalist; Archbishop Sharp and his Family. The Clarkson Family; The Stansfield Family; The Rookes Family;Dr. Nettleton; and a final chapter on the Greenwich Observatory.
A valuable book for anyone interested in the history of astronomy, Newton, Flamsteed, the Greenwich Observatory, celestial mapping, etc. .
Biographical Note: Abraham Sharp (1653 – 1742) was an English mathematician and astronomer. Sharp was born in Horton Hall in Little Horton, Bradford, the son of well-to-do merchant John Sharp and Mary (née Clarkson) Sharp and was educated at Bradford Grammar School. In 1669 he became a merchant's apprentice before becoming a schoolmaster in Liverpool and subsequently a bookkeeper in London. His wide knowledge of mathematics and astronomy attracted Flamsteed's attention and it was through Flamsteed that Sharp was invited, in 1688, to enter the Greenwich Royal Observatory. There he did notable work, improving instruments and showing great skill as a calculator, publishing Geometry Improved and logarithmic tables. Sharp calculated pi to 72 decimal places using an arctan sequence, briefly holding the record until John Machin calculated 100 digits in 1706. He returned to Little Horton in 1694. When the Atlas Coelestis – the largest star map at the time was published – it contained 26 maps of the major constellations visible from Greenwich, and two planispheres designed by Sharp. Sharp died in Little Horton in 1742. He had never married. He was a great-uncle of Jesse Ramsden, the scientific instrument maker. An English translation of a memorial tablet in Latin in Bradford Cathedral carved by Peter Scheemakers translates as " He was rightly counted among the most accomplished mathematicians of his day. He enjoyed constant friendship with the very famous men of the same repute, notably Flamsteed and the illustrious Newton. He drew up the description of the heavens made by the former of these (Flamsteed) in (astronomical) tables of the greatest accuracy; he also published anonymously various writings and descriptions of instruments perfected by himself... . The crater Sharp on the Moon is named after him.
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