Background
Olinthus Gregory was born on January 29, 1774, at Yaxley in Huntingdonshire.
United Kingdom
Olinthus Gregory
editor educator mathematician scientist writer
Olinthus Gregory was born on January 29, 1774, at Yaxley in Huntingdonshire.
Gregory was self-taught and privately tutored by Richard Weston, a Leicester botanist. Later he was awarded Doctor of Law.
Despite his limited schooling Gregory established a reputation as a writer on scientific subjects, and in 1803, through the patronage of Charles Hutton, he was appointed instructor of mathematics at the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich. In 1821 he succeeded to the professorship and held the post until his retirement in 1838.
Gregory’s most important scientific publication, A Treatise of Mechanics, appeared in 1806 and went through at least four editions. Although it was a didactic compilation rather than a publication of original research, it was one of the most complete works on pure and applied mechanics that had appeared in English. In purpose and presentation, it was an early example of what would now be described as “engineering mechanics.” Its theoretical sections covered such topics as the analysis of the flexed beam and the theory of the loaded arch, while its descriptive sections dealt extensively with machine design. The book constituted a contribution to the tradition of applied mathematics and applied mechanics which was then being fostered by the Woolwich mathematicians.
In 1825 Gregory produced another book, Mathematics for Practical Men, devoted to the principles and applications of the mechanical sciences for the use of the younger members of the Institution of Civil Engineers, which had been founded in 1818. Around this time he also did experimental research on the velocity of sound.
Gregory's other books include Hints for the Use of Teachers of Elementary Mathematics and Letters on the Evidences of Christianity, which have been several times reprinted, and an abridgment was published by the Religious Tract Society in 1853. He will probably be longest remembered for his Biography of Robert Hall, which first appeared in the collected edition of Hall's works, was published separately in 1833, and has since passed through several editions. The minor importance of his Memoir of John Mason Good is due to the narrower fame of the subject.
From 1802 to 1819 he edited the Gentleman’s Diary and from 1819 to 1840 the Ladies’ Diary. On the strength of his reputation in science, he was included among the group that founded London University, the first nonsectarian university in England.
Gregory was one of the founders of the Royal Astronomical Society. He was also an honorary member of the Institution of Civil Engineers.