William Whiston

William Whiston (1667 to 1752) was an English theologian, historian, natural philosopher and mathematician, a leading figure in the popularisation of the ideas of Isaac Newton. He is probably best known for helping to instigate the Longitude Act of 1714 and for his translations of the Antiquities of the Jews and other works by Josephus, which are still in print. He wrote A New Theory of the Earth and was a prominent exponent of Arianism. Born in Norton-juxta-Twycross in Leicestershire, where his father was rector, he entered Clare College, Cambridge in 1686, took his degrees in 1690 and 1693 and was elected a Fellow in 1691. He succeeded his mentor Newton as Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge, but in 1710 he lost the chair and was expelled from the university because of his unorthodox religious views, which included denying the doctrine of the Trinity.