Thomas Harriot
Polymath is a term used sparingly nowadays. Perhaps there are few polymaths in our era. A word with Greek roots: poly – implying many; and math – meaning knowledge. A polymath is one who possesses many kinds of knowledge. In Jimbo’s Assumption, the expression appears on 16 occasions and characterises geniuses including René Descartes and Edmond Halley. Two Enlightenment scholars who were active in multiple fields, their attainments elaborated in the book.
From an earlier period, Thomas Harriot is another who deserves the polymath classification. His life spanned the latter 16th century and early 17th, a time defined as the Scientific Revolution for the few who participated. Some old ideas were rediscovered, and prevailing dogmas began to be challenged. His contemporaries included Galileo, and Johannes Kepler, with whom he corresponded, sharing ideas that were too radical to promote.
So, what of Harriot? Why does he qualify? Certainly, one much less celebrated than the illustrious quartet above. Almost forgotten but today finding revitalised recognition. Here, we have space for just a brief outline of his life and interests.
Born in England to undistinguished parents, Harriot’s abilities must quickly have become obvious as he was accepted to study at Oxford University. How his attendance was funded is unknown. His family were not impoverished, otherwise he would have been illiterate, so unsuited to university education. Maybe a benefactor helped. His course was the standard for the age, doubtless including Greek, Latin, logic, Aristotle, mathematics, and astronomy. Medicine was often another component.
He evidently excelled at mathematics because, after graduating in 1580 CE, as a tutor in London, he rapidly attracted clients. Navigation interested him, bringing an introduction to Sir Walter Raleigh, an explorer, naval commander, politician, and advisor to the monarch, Queen Elizabeth. Solid endorsements brought Harriot into Raleigh’s household as a mathematics tutor. He began drilling sea-going officers in new methods of determining latitude.
The challenge of estimating longitude at sea is familiar, not least since an enthralling film exists. In Harriot’s day, the simpler problem of assessing latitude was unresolved. With the finest instruments then available, Harriot’s insights, and trained officers, Raleigh had a potent navigational resource. The best anywhere.
We will return to maritime matters, but multiple diversions were initiated by Raleigh. Discerning Harriot’s mathematical dexterity, he allocated further assignments to this curious young man. Noteworthy is the breadth of these projects. As a nautical leader, ship design concerned Raleigh, at a time when England’s presence as a naval power was emerging. Harriot became involved, engaging in construction and even selecting seamen. An engineer.
Raising finance for expeditions was a continuing priority for Raleigh. Managing money, whether public or privately raised, was a sensitive matter. He employed Harriot as treasurer, seeking funding and maintaining ledgers. Now an accountant.
Raleigh’s past triumphs meant he was a landowner with widespread estates in England and Ireland. Apportioning plots to tenant farmers was a challenge. Harriot was deployed. Now also a surveyor.
Two Native Americans were members of Raleigh’s extended ménage. They captivated Harriot to the extent that he mastered their tongue: Algonquian. To learn a language with no written form was an extraordinary feat. A phonetic code would be necessary to capture the intonations. Certainly, a linguist and future interpreter. Valuable to his boss.
In 1585 CE, Harriot sailed from Plymouth aboard Tiger on an expedition to the region now named Virginia. During the voyage, on 19 April, he observed a solar eclipse. Present-day navigators have computed the precise position of the vessel on that day.
The mission’s objective was to support the settlers already present, despite Spanish opposition, and consider the colony’s expansion potential. Harriot’s linguistic talents enabled study of the native population, gauging its scale and recording cultural attributes. He was encouraged to try tobacco. An inquisitive ethnographer. He also appraised the terrain, seeking mineral deposits. Geology was seemingly a component of Harriot’s broad repertoire.
On his return, Harriot devoted prodigious energy to writing an exhaustive report of his findings. Sufficiently detailed that his account amounted to a book. Eventually reprinted in four languages, illustrated, and influential in arguing the case for colonisation.
Being a trusted and respected member of Raleigh’s team, well-paid, and with freedom to pursue his many interests, was undoubtedly satisfying for Harriot. Clouds, however, were gathering. Political clouds. Allegations of atheism were levelled against Raleigh. A dangerous label to acquire then. Allusions were made to his ‘conjurer’, which Harriot feared meant him. The church might have regarded his application of the Scientific Method with suspicion. He felt obliged to find a new patron: Henry Percy, an aristocrat with an unusual passion for science and erudition. At the time, probably unique rather than unusual.
Joining a community of philosophers gave Harriot the opportunity to pursue mathematics, his principal interest, and particularly applications to optics. Two questions he studied are described in Jimbo’s Assumption: one that eventually became known as Snell’s Law, the other commonly designated Alhazen’s Problem, referencing the 10th century Islamic mathematician. Deservedly remembered as the Father of Optics. An earlier polymath.
Percy was sufficiently impressed by Harriot’s endeavours that he assigned land to him and the use of a house near London. He explored chemistry and pondered gunnery. Scrutiny of cannonball trajectories led him close to a vector analysis of flight.
Politics unhappily intervened once again. In 1605 CE, Percy’s grandson was implicated in the infamous Guy Fawkes plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament. Harriot was arrested as a suspected conspirator and purportedly for using magic against King James. Fortunately, the absence of evidence meant his release by the year’s end.
He continued his optical research, intrigued by a comet sighted in 1607 CE; spotted from Devon in the south-west. Later renowned as Halley’s Comet. Soon, he began the earliest telescopic observations from England and crafted the first sketches of the Moon with a 6x magnification instrument, several months before Galileo. By 1611 CE, he possessed a more powerful 32x device and saw four of Jupiter’s moons, previously identified by Galileo. Sunspots were a new phenomenon, first perceived by Harriot. As with much of his intuition and success, he did not publish.
By 1613 CE, Harriot’s health was in serious decline. A cancer emerged in his nose, ultimately leading to his death in 1621 CE. Today, it’s conjectured that the condition arose from inhaling tobacco fumes, a habit formed in Virginia then promoted in England.
RNP - Now regarded by the cognoscenti as the greatest mathematician Oxford University produced in 800 years. The assertion of Descartes, cogito ergo sum, was personified in Harriot. A luminary within my threequel.
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