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John Machin (bapt. c. 1686 – June 9, 1751),〔Anita McConnell, ‘Machin, John (bap. 1686?, died 1751)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004. Accessed 26 June 2007. 〕 a professor of astronomy at Gresham College, London, is best known for developing a quickly converging series for Pi in 1706 and using it to compute Pi to 100 decimal places. == History == John Machin served as secretary of the Royal Society from 1718 to 1747. He was also a member of the commission which decided the Calculus priority dispute between Leibniz and Newton in 1712. On 16 May 1713 he succeeded Alexander Torriano as professor of astronomy in Gresham College, and held the post until his death, which occurred in London on 9 June 1751. Machin enjoyed a high mathematical reputation. His ingenious quadrature of the circle was investigated by Hutton, and in 1706 he computed the value of π by Halley's method to one hundred decimals places. A mass of his manuscripts is preserved by the Royal Astronomical Society; and writing to William Jones in 1727, he asserted his claim to the parliamentary reward of £10,000 for amending the lunar tables. In 1728, he was listed as one of the subscribers to the ''Cyclopaedia'' of Ephraim Chambers.〔(List of Subscribers to the Cyclopaedia ) at library.wisc.edu〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「John Machin」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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