Charles Hutton

Charles Hutton (1732-1823) was an eminent mathematician and distinguished figure in the Royal Society (he was elected a fellow in 1774 and held the position of Foreign Secretary from 1779 to 1783). Throughout his life he contributed extensively to scientific periodicals and submitted many important papers to the "Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. Huttons experiments and research included the significant computation of the mean density of the earth based on Nevil Maskelynes...See more

Charles Hutton (1732-1823) was an eminent mathematician and distinguished figure in the Royal Society (he was elected a fellow in 1774 and held the position of Foreign Secretary from 1779 to 1783). Throughout his life he contributed extensively to scientific periodicals and submitted many important papers to the "Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. Huttons experiments and research included the significant computation of the mean density of the earth based on Nevil Maskelynes observations. His other works included a paper on ballistics, "The Force of Fired Gunpowder and the Velocity of Cannon Balls, for which he received the Copley Medal of the Royal Society in 1778. He held the position of Professor of Mathematics at Woolwich Military Academy for thirty-four years and wrote numerous mathematics textbooks. In 1781 Hutton published "Mathematical Tables for the Board of Longitude and he later produced the important "Course of Mathematics (1798-1801), which was subsequently published in various editons over a period of fifty years. See less