| RefNo | MS/82/20 |
| Level | Item |
| Title | Letter from [Pierre Remond de] Montmort to [Brook Taylor] |
| Date | 30 January 1719 |
| Description | Addressed to Brook Taylor in Oxford Street London.
Has received his letter of 5 January, also received by mistake a letter from an unknown Lady of great wit addressed to a 'Mr Remond' quarelling with her lover.
Surprised to hear from Brook Taylor that one of his brothers may be in London. The eldest, is good friend with [John Dalrymple, 2nd Earl of] Stairs and enjoying the pleasures of the court in Paris too much to travel, unless he has been charged of a secret order by the Regent [Philippe II, Duke of Orleans].
[Montmort] will stay in Paris for 6 months, where he will enquire from [Antonio Schinella] Conti about [Isaac] Newton's manuscript on chronology. Conti previously mentioned that Newton has made some important discoveries including dating the Argonauts' travels. Doubts the credibility of the calculations as beyond 3000 years, history is but conjectures.
Has heard that Brook Taylor is unhappy with [Isaac] Newton and that Newton is unhappy with [Montmort]. Comments on the jalousy of men of science.
May have misunderstood a letter from [John Taylor] written in English, which seems to criticise [Montmort] for his writings on Descartes and to threaten him to publish his errors.
Discusses an equation formulated by [John] Craig in the Hague in answer to [John] Keill, whom he accuses of plagiarism.
Has received a letter from [Johann] Bernoulli and hopes for a solution from [Jacopo] Riccati's equation from him. [Jakob] Herman values very highly's Taylor's solution for the problem on trajectories, which [Montmort] has circulated through France, Germany and Italy, therefore advises Taylor to wait to publish the solution for a few months to give the time to all geometers to appreciate its difficulty. |
| Language | French |
| Extent | 4pp. |
| Format | Manuscript |
| PhysicalDescription | Ink on paper |
| AccessStatus | Open |
Fellows associated with this archive
| Code | PersonName | Dates |
| NA6093 | Taylor; Brook (1685 - 1731) | 1685 - 1731 |
| NA7789 | Montmort; Pierre Remond de (1678 - 1719) | 1678 - 1719 |