Humphry Ditton

Humphry Ditton (29 May 1675 – 15 October 1715) was an English mathematician. He was born in Salisbury, the son of Humphry Ditton and Miss Luttrell. Ditton initially studied theology and served as a dissenting minister in Tonbridge. After his father's death, he shifted his focus to mathematics. Through the patronage of Isaac Newton, he secured a position as a mathematical master at Christ's Hospital. Ditton's mathematical contributions include works on the tangents of curves, spherical catoptrics, and the general laws of nature and motion. He also published 'An Institution of Fluxions', which explained Newton's method of fluxions. In theology, he wrote 'A Discourse Concerning the Resurrection of Jesus Christ,' attempting a mathematical proof for the resurrection. Ditton collaborated with William Whiston on a proposal for determining longitude, which, despite Newton's approval, was not adopted by the Board of Longitude. Jonathan Swift satirized their efforts. Ditton died in London in 1715.