John Theophilus Desaguliers

John Theophilus Desaguliers (1683 to 1744) was a French-born British natural philosopher, clergyman, engineer and freemason who was elected to the Royal Society in 1714 as experimental assistant to Isaac Newton. Born in La Rochelle shortly after his Huguenot father had been exiled, he was brought up in Guernsey and London, entered Christ Church, Oxford in 1705 and took his BA in 1709. After attending the lectures of John Keill, who illustrated Newtonian natural philosophy with innovative demonstrations, he continued giving them at Hart Hall when Keill left Oxford in 1709, and he obtained a master's degree in 1712. He later popularized Newtonian theories and their practical applications in public lectures, and his most important patron was James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos. As a Freemason he was instrumental in the success of the first Grand Lodge in London in the early 1720s and served as its third Grand Master.