1630-1677

English Mathematician

Ageometer and theologian who also contributed to the field of optics, Isaac Barrow is best known for the influence he exerted over the career of the young Isaac Newton (1642-1727). Among his most important published works were Euclidis elementorum libri XV and Lectiones geometricae, in which he interpreted and synthesized the ideas of more well-known geometers for a popular audience.

Barrow's father, Thomas, was a merchant and linen draper for King Charles I, and his mother Anne died shortly after her son's birth in London in 1630. The boy proved an unruly student, and after a stint at the Charterhouse school, he was sent to Felsted School in Essex, where schoolmaster Martin Holbeach had a reputation as a stern disciplinarian. Barrow thrived in this environment, and became immersed in subjects that included Latin, Greek, Hebrew, French, logic, and the classics.

In the unrest leading...