| RefNo | MS/82/4 |
| Level | Item |
| Title | Letter, from Brook Taylor to [John Keill] |
| Date | 9 October 1712 |
| Description | Opening paragraph establishes a new mode of address between Taylor and Keill, leaving compliments aside.
Discusses methods of approximation: Keill has convinced Taylor that his method of rational calculation is good but still he opts for the irrational form because [Edmund] Halley used it in his exraction of roots at the end of Is[aac] N[ewton]'s algebra. Builds on [Jacob] Bernouilli's series or quadratures.
Thanks Keill for his "very ingenious demonstration of the velocity of a fluid running out of a vessel" although it was not what he was asking for "to prove that the velocity ought to be generated in one instant""For I can't understand how velocity can be generated in any particle of matter in an instant, unless it be by the impulse of a body moving with certain velocity, or by an elastical spring that unbends itself in the shortest time imaginable"proposes a potential experiment to investigate this.
[Clarification: Recipient noted in handwritten note likely by William Young FRS, and can be deduced from address "Mr Professor" and content of letter] |
| Language | English |
| Extent | 2pp. |
| Format | Manuscript |
| PhysicalDescription | Ink on paper |
| AccessStatus | Open |
Fellows associated with this archive
| Code | PersonName | Dates |
| NA6093 | Taylor; Brook (1685 - 1731) | 1685 - 1731 |
| NA5348 | Keill; John (1671 - 1721); mathematician; natural philosopher | 1671 - 1721 |