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William Jones

(1675-1749), Mathematician

Sitter in 1 portrait
Born in modest circumstances in Anglesey, William Jones became a distinguished mathematician. He rose to become a Fellow of the Royal Society, one of the world's premier scientific institutions, in 1712 and later its Vice-President. His Synopsis Palmariorum Matheseos (1706) was a mathematical guide for beginners and introduced the symbol p (the Greek letter pi) to represent the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter.

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William Jones

by William Hogarth
oil on canvas, 1740
NPG 5734

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William Jones

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