Nicolas Vilant

Nicolas Vilant
Front page of Elements (1798 edition)
Born	(1737-06-12)12 June 1737 Ferryport-on-Tay, today Tayport, Scotland
Died	27 May 1807(1807-05-27) (aged 70) Saint Andrews, Scotland
Alma mater	University of St Andrews
Known for	Text books
Scientific career
Fields	Mathematics
Institutions	University of St Andrews

Nicolas Vilant (1737-1807) was a mathematician from Scotland in the 18th century, known by his textbooks.

Life and work

Vilant was Regius Professor of Mathematics in the university of Saint Andrews from 1765 to his death in 1807. Often ill, he was unable to teach most of this time, and lectures were taught by assistants, among them John West. Under Newtonian tradition, he was unable to follow the continental developments in mathematical analysis, like most of his British contemporaries. However, he was a good mathematician, and his textbooks were very popular until the first years of the 19th century; the most known of them was The Elements of Mathematical Analysis, Abridged for the Use of Students (1783 first edition). There are many manuscripts conserved in the archives of the university of Saint Andrews.

Bibliography

• Craik, Alex D.D. (2012). "A forgotten British analyst: Nicolas Vilant (1737–1807)". Historia Mathematica. Vol. 39 (Num. 2): 174–206. doi:10.1016/j.hm.2011.10.002. ISSN 0315-0860. {{cite journal}}: |volume= has extra text (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |citació= (help)
• Mann, A.J.S.; Craik, A.D.D. (2011). "Scotland. Land of opportunity but few rewards". In Raymond Flood, Adrian Rice, Robin Wilson (eds.) (ed.). Mathematics in Victorian Britain. Oxford University Press. pp. 77–102. ISBN 978-0-19-960139-4. {{cite book}}: |editor= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link)

External links

• O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "Nicolas Vilant", MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive, University of St Andrews