Special Exhibition Label: 'Geek is Good' (15 May - 2 November 2014)
Philomath and Friends
John Thompson (1720-83) was a typical philomath. A gentleman and surveyor based in the small provincial village of Witherley Bridge, Leicestershire, he nevertheless followed London news and publications. Between 1742 and 1767 he contributed many mathematical queries and answers to popular magazines.
Based on his own experience of surveying he submitted a prize question to the Gentleman's Diary in the mid-1760s. The manuscript shows a letter he received in response. It is from a reader - evidently a kindred spirit - who had correctly spotted an error in the printing of the problem. Social media, 18th-century style!
As well as his manuscripts, the Museum has a group of more than 20 mathematical instruments which belonged to Thompson. Displayed here are two calculating devices: a wooden sector for graphical calculation and a set of Napier's bones for more basic arithmetic.
MHS MS Museum 212
MHS inv. 46930 (sector)
MHS inv. 19954 (Napier's bones)