Thomas Digges
Thomas Digges (1545 or 1546 – August 24, 1595) was an influential English mathematician and military engineer, notable for his contributions to both applied mathematics and astronomy. He was born in Wootton, Kent, into a family with a legacy in mathematics; his father, Leonard Digges, was a prominent figure in this field. Following his father's political troubles during the reign of Queen Mary, Thomas faced challenges in his early life, including a delayed inheritance. He was later taken in by the mathematician John Dee, with whom he collaborated extensively.
Digges is recognized for his pioneering work in solid geometry and for expanding on his father's posthumous publication, "Pantometria." He became a leading figure among the English Copernicans, challenging Aristotelian cosmology with his work "A Perfit Description of the Caelestial Orbes," where he illustrated a heliocentric model of the solar system. His military endeavors included writing "Stratioticos," which discussed military mathematics and ballistics, marking a significant development in English military engineering. Digges served as the master of ordnance under Robert Dudley in the Netherlands and continued to influence military fortifications until his death in 1595. His legacy is marked by a blend of mathematical innovation and military application, reflecting the complexities of his time.
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Thomas Digges
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- Born: 1546
- Birthplace: Wootton (near Canterbury), Kent, England
- Died: August 24, 1595
- Place of death: London, England
Biography
Thomas Digges was born in 1545 or 1546 in Wootton, near Canterbury. He was the son of Leonard Digges, the most celebrated English mathematician of his era, and Bridget, née Wilford. The family’s circumstances changed drastically when Leonard Digges was condemned to death for taking part in Thomas Wyat’s 1554 rebellion against Queen Mary; he was reprieved, and recovered his property in 1558 when Mary died. However, Thomas had lost his right of inheritance, and was only able to recover it in 1563, four years after his father’s death and five years after Elizabeth’s accession to the throne. From 1554 to 1558, and again from 1559 to 1563, Thomas was taken in by Leonard’s friend and fellow mathematician John Dee, in collaboration with whom he worked for many years thereafter.
Thomas Digges’s first publication was a posthumous work of his father’s, Pantometria (1571), to which he added his own appendix on solid geometry—the most important English work on that subject to date. He took over his father’s intense interest in applied math, not merely with reference to surveying—although that was his works’ most publicized interest—but in military applications which were mostly kept secret. These almost certainly included work on combined lenses to make telescopes for military use, although there is no evidence that Dee and Digges used such a device in their astronomical observations.
Dee’s political influence obtained Digges a seat in parliament, representing Wallingford, in 1572, but their most significant endeavor that year was their observation of Tycho Brahe’s “new star”—their measurements of its position were the most accurate Tycho had when he collated the available information. Digges’s Alae seu scalae mathematicae, published the following year and often bound with Dee’s own book on the new star, included trigonometric theorems proving that it could not possibly be closer than the moon, and suggesting tentatively that this posed a serious challenge to Aristotelian cosmology.
Digges went on to become leader of the English Copernicans. A Perfit Description of the Caelestial Orbes (1576), which he added to a new edition of his father’s almanack, A Prognostocation Everlasting (first published in 1553), included a diagrammatic representation of the heliocentric solar system in which the realm of the stars is indicated to be infinite. He also included a brief essay on the variation of the compass and some notes on common errors in navigation, although such work—like his work on telescopes—had to be kept largely secret because of its military value
In 1577 Digges married Anne, the daughter of Sir Warham St. Leger and Lady Ursula Neville; their only son, Sir Dudley Digges, eventually became Master of the Rolls. Digges worked thereafter as a military engineer, initially on Dover Castle and the harbor fortifications. Stratioticos (1579) is a book on military mathematics, including the first discussion of ballistics in English. When Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, became governor- general of the Netherlands in 1586, he appointed Digges as his master of ordnance; he served in that capacity from 1586 to 1594, but was increasingly embroiled in futile wrangling over the army’s accounts. He died on August 24, 1595.