[526] See Vol. I, page 377, note 4 {769}.
[527] Charles Réné Reyneau (1656-1728) was professor of mathematics at Angers. His Analyse démontrée, ou Manière de resoudre les problèmes de mathématiques (1708) was a successful attempt to popularize the theories of men like Descartes, Newton, Leibnitz, and the Bernoullis.
[528] Brook Taylor (1685-1731), secretary of the Royal Society, and student of mathematics and physics. His Methodus incrementorum directa et inversa (1715) was the first treatise on the calculus of finite differences. It contained the well-known theorem that bears his name.
[529] Pierre Louis Moreau de Maupertuis (1698-1759) was sent with Clairaut (1735) to measure an arc of a meridian in Lapland. He was head of the physics department in the Berlin Academy from 1745 until 1753. He wrote Sur la figure de la terre (1738) and on geography and astronomy.
[530] Pierre Bouguer (1698-1758) was professor of hydrography at Paris, and was one of those sent by the Academy of Sciences to measure an arc of a meridian in Peru (1735). The object of this and the work of Maupertuis was to determine the shape of the earth and see if Newton's theory was supported.
[531] Charles Marie de la Condamine (1701-1774) was a member of the Paris Academy of Sciences and was sent with Bouguer to Peru, for the purpose mentioned in the preceding note. He wrote on the figure of the earth, but was not a scientist of high rank.
[532] See Vol. I, page 136, note 5 {283}.
[533] See Vol. II, page 296, note [483].
[534] Thomas Baker (c. 1625-1689) gave a geometric solution of the biquadratic in his Geometrical Key, or Gate of Equations unlocked (1684).
[535] See Vol. I, page 160, note 5 {350}.