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William Brouncker (2nd Viscount Brouncker)

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William Brouncker

The 2nd Viscount Brouncker (1620-1684)
Born 1620
Castlelyons, Ireland
Died April 6, 1684 (aged 64)
Westminster, London, England
Residence England
Fields Mathematician
Institutions Saint Catherine's Hospital
Alma mater University of Oxford
Doctoral advisor John Wallis
Known for Brouncker's formula


William Brouncker, 2nd Viscount Brouncker, FRS (16205 April 1684) was an English mathematician.

Brouncker obtained a PhD at the University of Oxford in 1647. He was one of the founders and the first President of the Royal Society. In 1662, he became Chancellor to Queen Catherine, then chief of the Saint Catherine's Hospital. His mathematical work concerned in particular the calculations of the lengths of the parabola and cycloid, and the quadrature of the hyperbola, which requires approximation of the natural logarithm function by infinite series. He was the first in England to take interest in generalised continued fractions and, following the work of John Wallis, he provided development in the generalised continued fraction of pi.

[edit] Brouncker's formula

This formula provides a development in generalized continued fraction of π:

\frac4{\pi}= 1+1^2 / (2+3^2 / (2+5^2 / (2+7^2 / (2+9^2 / (2+11^2 / (2+13^2 / (2+15^2 / (2+17^2 / (2+\cdots.

[edit] External links

Peerage of Ireland
Preceded by
William Brouncker
Viscount Brouncker
1645–1684
Succeeded by
Henry Brouncker

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References in the diary

1662
Apr: 28
Aug: 13
Sep: 5
1664
Aug: 10
Nov: 18, 19
Dec: 10, 12
1665
Jan: 2, 11, 21
Feb: 11, 15, 18, 21
Mar: 20
Apr: 6, 10, 12
May: 1, 5