Thomas Harriot

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Thomas Harriot

Thomas Harriot , 1560-1621, English mathematician and astronomer. He was tutor to Sir Walter Raleigh, who sent him in 1585 to Virginia as surveyor with Sir Richard Grenville. Returning to England, Harriot wrote A Brief and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia (1588), one of the earliest known large-scale statistical surveys. He made valuable contributions to algebra, introducing new symbols and notation. His Artis analyticae praxis appeared in 1631.

Bibliography: See biography by M. Rukeyser (1971).

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Harriot, Thomas

The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature | 2003 | | Â© The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature 2003, originally published by Oxford University Press 2003. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Harriot, Thomas (or Thomas Hariot), (1560/61–1621), mathematician and astronomer. In 1585 he went on Ralegh's expedition to Virginia. His A Briefe and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia (1588) is one of the earliest examples of a large-scale economic and statistical survey. His name was popularly associated with atheism and necromancy. He was thought by some to have been the leading spirit of the so-called ‘School of Night’, but appears to have been a faithful believer.

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MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Harriot, Thomas." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 4 Dec. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Harriot, Thomas." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (December 4, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-HarriotThomas.html

MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Harriot, Thomas." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Retrieved December 04, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-HarriotThomas.html

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