New games! PlayTrivia andBirthle.

MATHEMATICIAN

William Shanks

1812 - 1882

Photo of William Shanks

Icon of person William Shanks

William Shanks (25 January 1812 – June 1882) was an English amateur mathematician. He is famous for his calculation of π (pi) 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 116,010 page views. His biography is available in 18 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 17 in 2019). William Shanks is the 701st most popular mathematician (down from 563rd in 2019), the 3,550th most popular biography from United Kingdom (down from 2,622nd in 2019) and the 77th most popular British Mathematician.

Memorability Metrics

  • 120k

    Page Views (PV)

  • 46.32

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 18

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 4.12

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 2.44

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Page views of William Shanks by language


Among MATHEMATICIANS

Among mathematicians, William Shanks ranks 701 out of 823. Before him are Stanisław Mazur, Alexander Esenin-Volpin, Joseph Diez Gergonne, Hans Carl Friedrich von Mangoldt, William Whiston, and Carl Størmer. After him are Hilda Geiringer, Jørgen Pedersen Gram, Daniel Quillen, Alexander Ostrowski, Charles Howard Hinton, and Helena Rasiowa.

Most Popular Mathematicians in Wikipedia

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Contemporaries

Among people born in 1812, William Shanks ranks 61. Before him are Carl Christian Hall, Johanne Luise Heiberg, Charles Duclerc, Buenaventura Báez, Carl Christoffer Georg Andræ, and Samo Chalupka. After him are Charles Canning, 1st Earl Canning, Nicolae Crețulescu, Aleardo Aleardi, Pierre de Decker, Auguste Duméril, and George Grey. Among people deceased in 1882, William Shanks ranks 62. Before him are Joseph Decaisne, Johann Benedict Listing, Charles Wyville Thomson, Theodor Ludwig Wilhelm von Bischoff, Ion Andreescu, and Ernest Courtot de Cissey. After him are Antoine Bussy, William Harrison Ainsworth, Katarina Ivanović, James Spriggs Payne, Thomas Romney Robinson, and Joaquim Manuel de Macedo.

Others Born in 1812

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Others Deceased in 1882

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

In United Kingdom

Among people born in United Kingdom, William Shanks ranks 3,550 out of 7,765. Before him are Henry Bird (1830), Alun Armstrong (1946), Alfred Ewing (1855), William Elford Leach (1791), Jenny Agutter (1952), and Julian Richings (1955). After him are Neil Bartlett (1932), N. E. Brown (1849), Kevin McKidd (1973), William Thomas Blanford (1832), John Rimmer (1878), and Donald Sumpter (1943).

Others born in United Kingdom

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Among MATHEMATICIANS In United Kingdom

Among mathematicians born in United Kingdom, William Shanks ranks 77. Before him are David Gregory (1659), Max Newman (1897), Lady Byron (1792), Peter Tait (1831), Annie S. D. Maunder (1868), and William Whiston (1667). After him are Charles Howard Hinton (1853), Douglas Hartree (1897), E. T. Whittaker (1873), William Henry Young (1863), Benjamin Robins (1707), and Simon Donaldson (1957).

British born Mathematicians

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous
  • DatawheelCL