John Blagrave | |
|---|---|
 Drawing of the funerary monument to John Blagrave in St Laurence's Church, Reading. Commissioned by Blagrave, the monument shows him surrounded by five female statuettes holding the five platonic solids.[1][2] | |
| Born | Sometime in the 1560s |
| Died | 9 August 1611 Reading, Berkshire |
| Resting place | St Laurence's Church in Reading, Berkshire |
| Citizenship | English |
| Education | Reading School, St John's College |
| Known for | The Mathematical Jewel |
| Spouse | Dorothy Blagrave (née Gunter) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Mathematics, astronomy, design of instruments |
| Notable students | William Backhouse |
John Blagrave of Reading (d. 1611) was an English Tudor mathematician, astronomer and designer of astronomical and mathematical instruments. His astrolabe designs, which he described in his writings, were advanced for Britain. He devoted himself to mathematical study and was called, by Anthony à Wood, "the flower of mathematicians of his age"[3]
- ^ For the source of this drawing: "Drawing (Framed) of John Blagrave". History of Science Museum: Collection Database. For another later drawing of the monument: Man, John (1816). The History and Antiquities, Ancient and Modern, of the Borough of Reading, in the County of Berks. Reading, Berkshire: Snare and Man. pp. 318–319. Note the disrepair of the statuettes as compared to the above drawing.
- ^ Kerry, Rev. Charles (1883). A history of the Municipal Church of St. Lawrence, Reading. Reading, Berkshire: Rev. Charles Kerry. pp. 149–152.
- ^ Wood, Anthony à (1691). "John Blagrave". Athenae Oxonienses: An Exact History of All the Writers and Bishops, who Have Had Their Education in the University of Oxford. Vol. 1. London: Tho. Bennet. p. 317.