English astronomer, mathematician, ethnographer and translator
For the liberal arts college at East Carolina University, see Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences.
Thomas Harriot
Portrait often claimed to be Thomas Harriot (1602), which hangs in Trinity College, Oxford. The provenance of this portrait is not known, and there is little evidence to link it to Harriot.[1]
Born
c. 1560
Oxford, England
Died
2 July 1621(1621-07-02) (aged 60–61)
London, England
Alma mater
St Mary Hall, Oxford
Scientific career
Fields
Astronomy, mathematics, ethnography
Thomas Harriot (/ˈhæriət/;[2] c. 1560 – 2 July 1621), also spelled Harriott, Hariot or Heriot, was an English astronomer, mathematician, ethnographer and translator to whom the theory of refraction is attributed. Thomas Harriot was also recognized for his contributions in navigational techniques,[3] working closely with John White to create advanced maps for navigation.[3] While Harriot worked extensively on numerous papers on the subjects of astronomy, mathematics and navigation, he remains obscure because he published little of it,[4] namely only The Briefe and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia (1588).[3] This book includes descriptions of English settlements and financial issues in Virginia at the time.[3] He is sometimes credited with the introduction of the potato to the British Isles.[5] Harriot invented binary notation and arithmetic several decades before Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, but this remained unknown until the 1920's.[6] He was also the first person to make a drawing of the Moon through a telescope, on 5 August 1609, about four months before Galileo Galilei.[7][8]
Thomas Harriot observing the Moon through his telescope from the roof of Syon House.
After graduating from St Mary Hall, Oxford, Harriot travelled to the Americas, accompanying the 1585 expedition to Roanoke island funded by Sir Walter Raleigh and led by Sir Ralph Lane. He learned the Carolina Algonquian language from two Native Americans, Wanchese and Manteo, and could translate it, making him a vital member of the expedition. On his return to England, he worked for the 9th Earl of Northumberland.
^"A Tale of Two Portraits. A Note on Two Alleged Images of Thomas Harriot". April 2000.
^"Pronunciation Guide for Mathematics". ceadserv1.nku.edu. Archived from the original on 4 September 2019. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
^ abcdMoran, Michael (2014). "Thomas Hariot (ca. 1560–1621)". Encyclopedia Virginia. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
^Chapman, A. (2008). "Thomas Harriot: the first telescopic astronomer". Journal of the British Astronomical Association. 118: 315–325. Bibcode:2008JBAA..118..315C.
^"Sir Walter Raleigh – American colonies". Archived from the original on 26 May 2012.
^Strickland, Lloyd (2023). "Why Did Thomas Harriot Invent Binary?". The Mathematical Intelligencer. doi:10.1007/s00283-023-10271-9. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
^"Celebrating Thomas Harriot, the world's first telescopic astronomer (RAS PN 09/47)". Royal Astronomical Society. 2011. Archived from the original on 27 June 2013. Retrieved 4 March 2011.
ThomasHarriot (/ˈhæriət/; c. 1560 – 2 July 1621), also spelled Harriott, Hariot or Heriot, was an English astronomer, mathematician, ethnographer and...
Harriot may refer to: Elizabeth (Harriot) Wilson (1762–1786), figure in the folklore of southeastern Pennsylvania, hanged for murdering her children Harriot...
scientists Christopher Marlowe, George Chapman, Matthew Roydon and ThomasHarriot. There is no firm evidence that all of these men were known to each...
Arthur Barlowe was in command of the other. There are indications that ThomasHarriot and John White may have participated in the voyage, but no records survive...
2009. Retrieved June 11, 2007. "Welcome to ThomasHarriot College of Arts and Sciences". ThomasHarriot College of Arts and Sciences. East Carolina University...
first observed telescopically in December 1610 by English astronomer ThomasHarriot. His observations were recorded in his notebooks and were followed in...
Albert Einstein, on Émilie du Châtelet and Mary Somerville, and on ThomasHarriot. In the 1970s, Arianrhod left her honours program in mathematics to...
person to observe the Moon through a telescope (English mathematician ThomasHarriot had done it four months before but only saw a "strange spottednesse")...
Charles Fowler, was the first to be built out of cast iron. In 1609, ThomasHarriot was working at Syon when he made the first ever use of the newly invented...
ThomasHarriot (c. 1560 – 1621); Harriot achieved this on 26 July 1609: over four months before Galileo. 1610: Sunspots discovered by ThomasHarriot (c...
location of the fabled El Dorado, that was represented in the map of ThomasHarriot in 1596. However, he failed then, and in two subsequent expeditions...
Northumberland (1564–1632) since when it has remained in his family. In 1609, ThomasHarriot was working at Syon when he made the first ever use of the newly invented...
for philosophers and mathematicians alike). In the late 16th century, ThomasHarriot proved that the stereographic projection is conformal; however, this...
number system was studied in Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries by ThomasHarriot, Juan Caramuel y Lobkowitz, and Gottfried Leibniz. However, systems...
Theodorus de Bry and his sons published a new, illustrated edition of ThomasHarriot's A Briefe and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia about the...
scarcity of sufficiently powerful telescopes. Several astronomers, such as ThomasHarriot, Joseph Gaultier de la Vatelle, Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc, and...
widespread use at the time of early European contact. In 1585, when ThomasHarriot recorded the first glossary of an Algonquian language, Roanoke (Pamlico)...
Defense of the Marine Chart, with further mathematical development by ThomasHarriot in the 1590s. A rhumb line can be contrasted with a great circle, which...
colonize America. Cavendish also studied navigation under the direction of ThomasHarriot at Raleigh's Durham House in Westminster. In 1585, Cavendish was appointed...
restricted access to the exotic newcomers, assigning the brilliant scientist ThomasHarriot the job of deciphering and learning the Carolina Algonquian language...
the discovery of the lunar libration in latitude in 1632, although ThomasHarriot or William Gilbert might have done so before. Note Cassini's laws. It...
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