| Administrative History | James Gregory (1638 - 1675) was the third son of John Gregory (1598 - 1652), minister of Drumoak in Aberdeenshire, and his wife Janet Anderson. He was professor of mathematics at St Andrews University from 1668 - 1674, and at Edinburgh from 1674 - 1675. A contemporary and rival of Sir Isaac Newton, he is often credited with the discovery of calculus.
He graduated from Marischal College in Aberdeen in 1657, and moved to London in 1662 where he published his first work, 'Optica Promota' (1663). In 1664 he moved to Padua, Italy, where he studied for four years under Stefano degli Angeli, a pupil of Evangelista Torricelli. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1668, largely on the back of papers published on his Italian research, and appointed to the Chair of Mathematics in the University of St Andrews later that year. He was deposed from the St Andrews Chair in 1674 but was offered and accepted the newly established Chair of Mathematics at the University of Edinburgh soon after. He died following a stroke in October 1675, just a few months after his arrival in Edinburgh.
He married Mary, daughter of George Jameson, painter, and widow of Peter Burnet, in 1669. They had two daughters and a son, James Gregory (1674 - 1733), who became professor of medicine at King's College in Aberdeen from 1725 to 1732. James was the first of several notable mediciners that descended from this side of the family. |
| Description | Freedom of the City of Aberdeen, 27 February 1669; burgess ticket of the City of Aberdeen, 27 February 1669; presentation to the professorship of mathematics at the University of St Andrews, 25 June 1669; instrument of admission to the professorship of mathematics at the University of St Andrews, 29 September 1669; printed correspondence between James Gregory and the Reverend Colin Campbell on mathematical subjects between 1673 and 1674, mid 19th century. |