Introduction

Abstract

Robert Simson (1687–1768) was Professor of Mathematics at the University of Glasgow from 1711 until his retirement in 1761. He had originally studied for the ministry at Glasgow but mathematics, which he first came to as a relaxation from theological arguments, gradually became his dominant interest. During 1710–11 he spent about a year in London pursuing his mathematical studies and becoming acquainted with several eminent mathematicians, in particular Edmund Halley, who was largely responsible for Simson’s dedicating himself to the study of Greek geometry.