Savilian Chair Of Geometry
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The position of Savilian Professor of Geometry was established at the
University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...
in 1619. It was founded (at the same time as the Savilian Professorship of Astronomy) by
Sir Henry Savile Sir Henry Savile (30 November 154919 February 1622) was an English scholar and mathematician, Warden of Merton College, Oxford, and Provost of Eton. He endowed the Savilian chairs of Astronomy and of Geometry at Oxford University, and was on ...
, a mathematician and
classical scholar Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...
who was Warden of Merton College, Oxford, and
Provost of Eton College The provost is the chairman of the governing body of Eton College. He is chosen by the Crown and is assisted by a vice-provost and ten fellows. Provosts of Eton 15th century *Henry Sever (1440–1442) *William Waynflete (1442–1447) * John C ...
, reacting to what has been described by one 20th-century mathematician as "the wretched state of mathematical studies in England" at that time. He appointed Henry Briggs as the first professor. Edward Titchmarsh (professor 1931–63) said when applying that he was not prepared to lecture on geometry, and the requirement was removed from the duties of the post to enable his appointment, although the title of the chair was not changed. The two Savilian chairs have been linked with professorial
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at
New College, Oxford New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...
, since the late 19th century. Before then, for over 175 years until the middle of the 19th century, the geometry professors had an official residence adjoining the college in
New College Lane New College Lane is a historic street in central Oxford, England, named after New College, one of the older Oxford colleges, adjacent to the north. In 2010, New College Lane was named Britain's fourth most picturesque street, as part of G ...
. There have been 20 professors; Frances Kirwan, the current () and first female holder of the chair, was appointed in 2017. The post has been held by a number of distinguished mathematicians. Briggs helped to develop the
common logarithm In mathematics, the common logarithm (aka "standard logarithm") is the logarithm with base 10. It is also known as the decadic logarithm, the decimal logarithm and the Briggsian logarithm. The name "Briggsian logarithm" is in honor of the British ...
, described as "one of the most useful systems for mathematics". The third professor,
John Wallis John Wallis (; ; ) was an English clergyman and mathematician, who is given partial credit for the development of infinitesimal calculus. Between 1643 and 1689 Wallis served as chief cryptographer for Parliament and, later, the royal court. ...
, introduced the use of for
infinity Infinity is something which is boundless, endless, or larger than any natural number. It is denoted by \infty, called the infinity symbol. From the time of the Ancient Greek mathematics, ancient Greeks, the Infinity (philosophy), philosophic ...
, and was regarded as "one of the leading mathematicians of his time". Both
Edmond Halley Edmond (or Edmund) Halley (; – ) was an English astronomer, mathematician and physicist. He was the second Astronomer Royal in Britain, succeeding John Flamsteed in 1720. From an observatory he constructed on Saint Helena in 1676–77, Hal ...
, who successfully predicted the return of the comet named in his honour, and his successor Nathaniel Bliss held the post of
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in addition to the professorship. Stephen Rigaud (professor 1810–27) has been called "the foremost historian of astronomy and mathematics in his generation". The life and work of James Sylvester (professor 1883–94) was commemorated by the
Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
by the inauguration of the
Sylvester Medal The Sylvester Medal is a bronze medal awarded by the Royal Society for the encouragement of mathematical research, and accompanied by a £1,000 prize. It was named in honour of James Joseph Sylvester, the Savilian chair of geometry, Savilian Prof ...
; this was won by a later professor, Edward Titchmarsh. Two professors, Sylvester and
Michael Atiyah Sir Michael Francis Atiyah (; 22 April 1929 – 11 January 2019) was a British-Lebanese mathematician specialising in geometry. His contributions include the Atiyah–Singer index theorem and co-founding topological K-theory. He was awarded the ...
(professor 1963–69), have been awarded the
Copley Medal The Copley Medal is the most prestigious award of the Royal Society of the United Kingdom, conferred "for sustained, outstanding achievements in any field of science". The award alternates between the physical sciences or mathematics and the bio ...
of the Royal Society; Atiyah also won the
Fields Medal The Fields Medal is a prize awarded to two, three, or four mathematicians under 40 years of age at the International Congress of Mathematicians, International Congress of the International Mathematical Union (IMU), a meeting that takes place e ...
while he was professor.


Foundation and duties

Sir Henry Savile Sir Henry Savile (30 November 154919 February 1622) was an English scholar and mathematician, Warden of Merton College, Oxford, and Provost of Eton. He endowed the Savilian chairs of Astronomy and of Geometry at Oxford University, and was on ...
, the Warden of Merton College, Oxford, and
Provost of Eton College The provost is the chairman of the governing body of Eton College. He is chosen by the Crown and is assisted by a vice-provost and ten fellows. Provosts of Eton 15th century *Henry Sever (1440–1442) *William Waynflete (1442–1447) * John C ...
, was deeply saddened by what the 20th-century mathematician Ida Busbridge has termed "the wretched state of mathematical studies in England", and so founded professorships in geometry and
astronomy Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...
at the
University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...
in 1619; both chairs were named after him. He also donated his books to the university's
Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1602 by Sir Thomas Bodley, it is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second-largest library in ...
"for the use chiefly of mathematical readers". He required the professors to be men of good character, at least 26 years old, and to have "imbibed the purer philosophy from the springs of
Aristotle Aristotle (; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, a ...
and
Plato Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born  BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...
" before acquiring a thorough knowledge of science. The professors could come from any Christian country, but he specified that a professor from England should have a
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degree as a minimum. He wanted students to be educated in the works of the leading scientists of the ancient world, saying that the professor of geometry should teach
Euclid Euclid (; ; BC) was an ancient Greek mathematician active as a geometer and logician. Considered the "father of geometry", he is chiefly known for the '' Elements'' treatise, which established the foundations of geometry that largely domina ...
's '' Elements'',
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's ''Conics'', and the works of
Archimedes Archimedes of Syracuse ( ; ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek Greek mathematics, mathematician, physicist, engineer, astronomer, and Invention, inventor from the ancient city of Syracuse, Sicily, Syracuse in History of Greek and Hellenis ...
; tuition in
trigonometry Trigonometry () is a branch of mathematics concerned with relationships between angles and side lengths of triangles. In particular, the trigonometric functions relate the angles of a right triangle with ratios of its side lengths. The fiel ...
was to be shared by the two professors. As many students would have had little mathematical knowledge, the professors were also permitted to provide instruction in basic mathematics in English (as opposed to Latin, the language used in education at Oxford at the time).


Appointment

Savile's first choice for the professorship of geometry was
Edmund Gunter Edmund Gunter (158110 December 1626), was an English clergyman, mathematician, geometer and astronomer of Welsh descent. He is best remembered for his mathematical contributions, which include the invention of the Gunter's chain, the #Gunter's q ...
, Professor of Astronomy at
Gresham College Gresham College is an institution of higher learning located at Barnard's Inn Hall off Holborn in Central London, England that does not accept students or award degrees. It was founded in 1597 under the Will (law), will of Sir Thomas Gresham, ...
, London. It was reported that Gunter demonstrated the use of his
sector Sector may refer to: Places * Sector, West Virginia, U.S. Geometry * Circular sector, the portion of a disc enclosed by two radii and a circular arc * Hyperbolic sector, a region enclosed by two radii and a hyperbolic arc * Spherical sector, a po ...
and
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, but Savile regarded this as "showing of tricks" rather than geometry, and instead appointed Henry Briggs, the
Gresham Professor of Geometry The Professor of Geometry at Gresham College, London, gives free educational lectures to the general public. The college was founded for this purpose in 1597, when it created seven professorships; this was later increased to ten. Geometry is one ...
, in 1619. Briggs took up the chair in 1620 at an annual salary of £150 and thus became the first person to hold the first two mathematical chairs established in Britain. Savile reserved to himself the right to appoint the professors during his lifetime. After his death, he provided that vacancies should be filled by a majority of a group of "most distinguished persons": the
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, the
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, the
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of the university, the
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, the Secretary of State, the
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, the
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, the
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and the Dean of the Court of Arches. The
Vice-Chancellor A vice-chancellor (commonly called a VC) serves as the chief executive of a university in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Kenya, other Commonwealth of Nati ...
of the university was to inform the electors of any vacancy, and could be summoned to advise them. The appointment could either be made straight away, or delayed for some months to see whether "any eminent mathematician can be allured" from abroad. As part of reforms of the university in the 19th century, the University of Oxford commissioners laid down new statutes for the chair in 1881. The professor was to "lecture and give instruction in pure and analytical Geometry", and was to be a
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of New College. The electors for the professorship were to be the Warden of New College (or a person nominated by the college in his place), the Chancellor of the University of Oxford, the President of the
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, the
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at Oxford, the
Sadleirian Professor of Pure Mathematics The Sadleirian Professorship of Pure Mathematics, originally spelled in the statutes and for the first two professors as Sadlerian, is a professorship in pure mathematics within the DPMMS at the University of Cambridge. It was founded on a beques ...
at the
University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
, a person nominated by the university council and one other nominated by New College. Edward Titchmarsh (professor from 1931 to 1963) said when applying that he was not prepared to lecture on geometry, and the requirement was removed from the duties of the professor to enable his appointment, although the title of the chair was not changed. Changes to the university's internal legislation in the 20th and early 21st centuries abolished specific statutes for the duties of, and rules for appointment to, individual chairs such as the Savilian professorships. The University Council is now empowered to make appropriate arrangements for appointments and conditions of service, with the college to which any professorship is allocated (New College in the case of the Savilian chairs) to have two representatives on the board of electors.


Professors' house

John Wallis John Wallis (; ; ) was an English clergyman and mathematician, who is given partial credit for the development of infinitesimal calculus. Between 1643 and 1689 Wallis served as chief cryptographer for Parliament and, later, the royal court. ...
(professor 1649–1703) rented a house from New College on
New College Lane New College Lane is a historic street in central Oxford, England, named after New College, one of the older Oxford colleges, adjacent to the north. In 2010, New College Lane was named Britain's fourth most picturesque street, as part of G ...
from 1672 until his death in 1703; at some point, it was divided into two houses. Towards the end of his life, David Gregory (the Savilian Professor of Astronomy) lived in the eastern part of the premises: although no lease between Wallis and Gregory survives (if one was ever made between the two friends), Gregory's name appears for the first time in the parish rate-book of 1701. Wallis's son gave the unexpired portion of the lease to the university in 1704 in honour of his father's long tenure of the chair, to provide official residences for the two Savilian professors. New College renewed the lease at a low rent from 1716 and thereafter at intervals until the last renewal in 1814. Records of who lived in each house are not available throughout the period, but surviving documentation shows that the professors often sub-let the houses and for about twenty years in the early 18th century the premises were being used as a lodging house. Stephen Rigaud lived there from 1810 until he became the astronomy professor in 1827; thereafter, Baden Powell lived there with his family. The geometry professors were associated with the houses for longer than the astronomy professors: when the
Radcliffe Observatory Radcliffe Observatory was the astronomical observatory of the University of Oxford from 1773 until 1934, when the Radcliffe Trustees sold it and built a new observatory in Pretoria, South Africa. It is a Grade I listed building. Today, the buil ...
was built in the 1770s, the post of Radcliffe Observer was coupled to the astronomy professorship, and they were provided with a house in that role; thereafter, the university sublet the astronomy professor's house itself. In the early 19th century, New College decided that it wished to use the properties for itself and the lease expired in 1854.


List of professors


See also

*
Gresham Professor of Geometry The Professor of Geometry at Gresham College, London, gives free educational lectures to the general public. The college was founded for this purpose in 1597, when it created seven professorships; this was later increased to ten. Geometry is one ...
*
List of professorships at the University of Oxford This is a list of professorships at the University of Oxford. During the early history of the university, the title of professor meant a doctor who taught. From the 16th century, it was used for those holding a professorship, also known as a ch ...


Notes


References

{{featured list Professorships at the University of Oxford Professorships in mathematics 1619 establishments in England Lists of people associated with the University of Oxford New College, Oxford Mathematics education in the United Kingdom