Book Description

Excerpt from Life and Correspondence of Abraham Sharp: The Yorkshire Mathematician and Astronomer, and Assistant of Flamsteed; With Memorials of His Family, and Associated Families The publication of a Life of Abraham Sharp has been the desire of the Author for many years. Sharp's life-long labours in the twin sciences of mathematics and astronomy; the important part he played in bringing the latter to a practical test by means of his inventive and mechanical genius; and the somewhat ambiguous nature of the account which had been given of his personal history, all seemed to call for such an account as would do justice to his genius and his works. Beyond detached notices of him, however, many of which are clearly traceable to a common origin, no Life of Sharp had been written, although nearly 150 years have elapsed since his decease, nor has justice been done to his ability and industry either by contemporary writers or by modern scientists. Fortunately, materials affording ample testimony of his title to rank even with contemporaries like Sir Isaac Newton, Dr. Halley, and Flamsteed, the first astronomer-royal, have come into the Author's hands, and the result appears in the present work. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.