Hugh Sempill

Who was Hugh Sempill?

Hugh Sempill was a Scottish Jesuit mathematician and linguist. He describes himself in his work as Hugo Sempilius Craigbaitaeus, probably making him the Hew Sempill of Craigbait and Langside found in local genealogies, where his birth is given as 1590.

A Jesuit, Sempill taught as professor of mathematics at the Colegio Imperial de Madrid, which employed teachers from all over Europe and made courses in geometry, geography, hydrography, and horology.

He also served as procurator of the Royal Scots College in Madrid.

Sempill's De Mathematicis disciplinis Libri duodecim, dedicated to Philip IV of Spain, was a work that was read across Europe. Sempill's work was essentially a compilation and many pages consist of little but a list of names of writers in various scientific genres.

Sempill also wrote Experentia Mathematice. De compositione et divisione numerum, linearum, quadratorum....