MATHEMATICIAN

William Shanks

1812 - 1882

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William Shanks (25 January 1812 – June 1882) was an English amateur mathematician. He is famous for his calculation of π to 707 places in 1873, which was correct up to the first 527 places. The error was discovered in 1944 by D. F. Ferguson (using a mechanical desk calculator). Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of William Shanks has received more than 131,732 page views. His biography is available in 19 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 18 in 2019). William Shanks is the 864th most popular mathematician (down from 698th in 2019), the 4,544th most popular biography from United Kingdom (down from 3,542nd in 2019) and the 92nd most popular British Mathematician.

Memorability Metrics

  • 130k

    Page Views (PV)

  • 52.33

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 19

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 3.48

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 2.86

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Among MATHEMATICIANS

Among mathematicians, William Shanks ranks 864 out of 1,004. Before him are Richard Taylor, Hans Rademacher, Roger Apéry, Michael Aschbacher, Richard Brauer, and Jørgen Pedersen Gram. After him are James Whitbread Lee Glaisher, Francesco Severi, Cécile DeWitt-Morette, Thomas Heath, Solomon Marcus, and George Salmon.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1812, William Shanks ranks 71. Before him are Auguste Duméril, Bertalan Szemere, Nicolae Crețulescu, Aleardo Aleardi, Anna Louisa Geertruida Bosboom-Toussaint, and Carl Edvard Rotwitt. After him are Lady Charlotte Guest, George Grey, Dragojla Jarnević, William Fox, and John B. Weller. Among people deceased in 1882, William Shanks ranks 71. Before him are Ion Andreescu, James Spriggs Payne, George Perkins Marsh, William Barton Rogers, William Harrison Ainsworth, and James Challis. After him are Francisco Javier Zaldúa, Joaquim Manuel de Macedo, Nain Singh, Thomas Romney Robinson, Richard Henry Dana Jr., and Hablot Knight Browne.

Others Born in 1812

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Others Deceased in 1882

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In United Kingdom

Among people born in United Kingdom, William Shanks ranks 4,544 out of 8,785. Before him are Robert Service (1947), Cathleen Nesbitt (1888), Ken Armstrong (1924), Binnie Barnes (1903), Robert Edmond Grant (1793), and Simon Blackburn (1944). After him are David Marr (1945), Richard K. Morgan (1965), James Whitbread Lee Glaisher (1848), Kathleen Booth (1922), Dennis Poore (1916), and Dave Edmunds (1944).

Others born in United Kingdom

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Among MATHEMATICIANS In United Kingdom

Among mathematicians born in United Kingdom, William Shanks ranks 92. Before him are Peter Tait (1831), Annie S. D. Maunder (1868), Thomas Henderson (1798), Simon Donaldson (1957), I. J. Good (1916), and Richard Taylor (1962). After him are James Whitbread Lee Glaisher (1848), Thomas Heath (1861), Philip Hall (1904), Edward Charles Titchmarsh (1899), Richard K. Guy (1916), and W. T. Tutte (1917).

British born Mathematicians

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