Roger Cotes

Roger Cotes, who lived from 1682 to 1716, was an English mathematician born in Burbage, Leicestershire, the son of the rector of the parish. He entered Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1699, and in 1707 became a fellow of the college and, at the age of 26, the first Plumian Professor of Astronomy and Experimental Philosophy, a chair he held until his death. He is known for working closely with Isaac Newton, proofreading the second edition of the Principia before its publication between 1709 and 1713. He devised the quadrature formulas known as the Newton and Cotes formulas, which grew out of Newton's research, and made a geometric argument that can be read as a logarithmic version of Euler's formula. With Newton he designed a heliostat telescope with a mirror revolving by clockwork, and he recomputed the solar and planetary tables of Cassini and Flamsteed.