Richard Towneley

Richard Towneley (1629 to 1707) was an English mathematician, natural philosopher and astronomer who lived at Towneley Hall, Burnley, in Lancashire. His Catholicism isolated him from some of the main scientific networks of his time, such as the Royal Society, but his individual collaborations were significant. One was with Robert Boyle, in helping to formulate Boyle's law, which Boyle himself called Mr. Towneley's hypothesis. He also introduced John Flamsteed to the micrometer and invented the deadbeat escapement, which became the standard escapement in precision pendulum clocks and is still the main one used in pendulum clocks today. Born at Nocton Hall in Lincolnshire, the eldest son of a Royalist family that was prominent in the Roman Catholic minority of Lancashire, he is thought to have attended college in the Low Countries, probably at Douai. After the Restoration of 1660 the family estates were returned, which let him devote himself to mathematics and natural philosophy.