MATHEMATICIAN

William Oughtred

1574 - 1660

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William Oughtred (5 March 1574 – 30 June 1660), also Owtred, Uhtred, etc., was an English mathematician and Anglican clergyman. After John Napier discovered logarithms and Edmund Gunter created the logarithmic scales (lines, or rules) upon which slide rules are based, Oughtred was the first to use two such scales sliding by one another to perform direct multiplication and division. He is credited with inventing the slide rule in about 1622. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of William Oughtred has received more than 278,450 page views. His biography is available in 38 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 36 in 2019). William Oughtred is the 139th most popular mathematician, the 690th most popular biography from United Kingdom (up from 715th in 2019) and the 15th most popular British Mathematician.

William Oughtred is most famous for his invention of the slide rule, a device that allowed people to do math without using an abacus.

Memorability Metrics

  • 280k

    Page Views (PV)

  • 67.81

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 38

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 8.91

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 2.77

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Among MATHEMATICIANS

Among mathematicians, William Oughtred ranks 139 out of 1,004. Before him are Jacques Hadamard, Aloysius Lilius, Sophus Lie, Mikhail Ostrogradsky, Oliver Heaviside, and Ernst Kummer. After him are Vincenzo Viviani, Harald Bohr, Andrew Wiles, Mary Jackson, Johannes Trithemius, and Émile Borel.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1574, William Oughtred ranks 4. Before him are Pope Innocent X, Handan Sultan, and Anne of Denmark. After him are Maria Anna of Bavaria, Robert Fludd, Maria Christina, Princess of Transylvania, Frederick IV, Elector Palatine, Wilhelm Kettler, Qin Liangyu, Feng Menglong, and Elisabeth of Lorraine. Among people deceased in 1660, William Oughtred ranks 9. Before him are Vincent de Paul, Gaston, Duke of Orléans, Judith Leyster, Mary, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange, Gevherhan Sultan, and Pieter Claesz. After him are Francesco Albani, Ayşe Sultan, Louise de Marillac, Alexandre de Rhodes, George II Rákóczi, and Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate, Electress of Brandenburg.

Others Born in 1574

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Others Deceased in 1660

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In United Kingdom

Among people born in United Kingdom, William Oughtred ranks 690 out of 8,785. Before him are Dua Lipa (1995), Jessica Tandy (1909), Peter Finch (1916), Antony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon (1930), Jim Broadbent (1949), and Peter Shilton (1949). After him are Stephen Gray (1666), John Frederic Daniell (1790), Brian Josephson (1940), Harry Kroto (1939), Benjamin Hornigold (1680), and Charles Wheatstone (1802).

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Among MATHEMATICIANS In United Kingdom

Among mathematicians born in United Kingdom, William Oughtred ranks 15. Before him are Thomas Harriot (1560), John Wallis (1616), Brook Taylor (1685), John Couch Adams (1819), Colin Maclaurin (1698), and Oliver Heaviside (1850). After him are Robert Grosseteste (1175), Arthur Cayley (1821), James Joseph Sylvester (1814), James Gregory (1638), Michael Atiyah (1929), and Henry Briggs (1561).

British born Mathematicians

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