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Stars in the RMS Firmament 1673–1798

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Samuel Pepys, Isaac Newton, James Hodgson, and the Beginnings of Secondary School Mathematics

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Abstract

This chapter identifies a firmament of 10 RMS stars—comprising Samuel Pepys, Jonas Moore, Christopher Wren, Robert Hooke, Isaac Newton, John Flamsteed, Edmond Halley, James Hodgson, John Robertson, and William Wales. It also identifies an eleventh person, Humfrey Ditton—a mathematics master at Christ’s Hospital between 1706 and 1715—as someone who had an important influence on the future of RMS. The 10 stars illuminated the educational world within the Royal Mathematical School at Christ’s Hospital at various times during the 125-year period 1673–1798. Not all the stars shone at the same time, with the first 30 years of RMS’s existence being the time when more of the stars were shining together than at any other time. After briefly considering peculiar characteristics of each of the stars, and of Humfrey Ditton, their contributions to RMS’s development is considered. It is concluded that the greatest, most positive, contribution came from James Hodgson, RMS master between 1709 and 1755.

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  1. Department of Mathematics, Illinois State University, Normal, Illinois, USA

    Nerida F. Ellerton & M. A. (Ken) Clements

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  1. Nerida F. Ellerton
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  2. M. A. (Ken) Clements
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Ellerton, N.F., Clements, M.A.(. (2017). Stars in the RMS Firmament 1673–1798. In: Samuel Pepys, Isaac Newton, James Hodgson, and the Beginnings of Secondary School Mathematics. History of Mathematics Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-46657-6_3

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