Mathematicians Of The Day

15th October



On this day in 1698, King William III commissioned Edmund Halley as Royal Naval Captain of the HMS Paramour and provided him with a complete set of instructions:
Whereas his Majesty has been pleased to lend his pink the 'Paramour' for your proceeding with her on an Expedition, to improve the knowledge of the Longitude and variations of the Compass, which ship is now completely manned, stored and victualled at his Majesty's charge for the said Expedition ...

See a picture at THIS LINK.

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Quotation of the day

From Lipót Fejér
What he says is a topological map of the truth.
Quoted in D MacHale, Comic Sections (Dublin 1993)