[772] Probably J. Butler Williams whose Practical Geodesy appeared in 1842, with a third edition in 1855.
[773] Benjamin Gompertz (1779-1865) was debarred as a Jew from a university education. He studied mathematics privately and became president of the Mathematical Society. De Morgan knew him professionally through the fact that he was prominent in actuarial work.
[774] Referring to the contributions of Archimedes (287-212 B.C.) to the mensuration of the sphere.
[775] The famous Alexandrian astronomer (c. 87-c. 165 A.D.), author of the Almagest, a treatise founded on the works of Hipparchus.
[776] Dr. Whewell, when I communicated this song to him, started the opinion, which I had before him, that this was a very good idea, of which too little was made.—A. De M.
[777] See note [117], page [76].
[778] The common epithet of rank: nobilis Tycho, as he was a nobleman. The writer had been at history.—A. De M.
[779] He lost it in a duel, with Manderupius Pasbergius. A contemporary, T. B. Laurus, insinuates that they fought to settle which was the best mathematician! This seems odd, but it must be remembered they fought in the dark, "in tenebris densis"; and it is a nice problem to shave off a nose in the dark, without any other harm.—A. De M.
Was this T. B. Laurus Joannes Baptista Laurus or Giovanni Battista Lauro (1581-1621), the poet and writer?