Thomas Harriot
Mathematician, Academic
1560 – 1621
Who was Thomas Harriot?
Thomas Harriot — or spelled Harriott, Hariot, or Heriot — was an English astronomer, mathematician, ethnographer, and translator. He is sometimes credited with the introduction of the potato to the British Isles. Harriot was the first person to make a drawing of the Moon through a telescope, on 26 July 1609, over four months before Galileo.
After graduating from Oxford University, Harriot travelled to the Americas, accompanying the 1585 expedition to Roanoke island funded by Sir Walter Raleigh and led by Sir Ralph Lane. Harriot was a vital member of the venture, having translated and learned the Carolina Algonquian language from two Native Americans, Wanchese and Manteo. On his return to England he worked for the 9th Earl of Northumberland. At the Earl's house, he became a prolific mathematician and astronomer to whom the theory of refraction is attributed.
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- Born
- 1560
Oxford - Also known as
- Thomas Hariot
- Thomas Heriot
- Ethnicity
- English people
- Nationality
- United Kingdom
- Kingdom of England
- Profession
- Education
- University of Oxford
- St Mary Hall, Oxford
- Died
- Jul 2, 1621
London
Submitted
on July 23, 2013
Citation
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