Book ID: CBB974882800

William Morgan: Eighteenth-Century Actuary, Mathematician and Radical (2020)

unapi

To meet William Morgan is to encounter the eighteenth-century world of finance, science and politics. Born in Bridgend in 1750, he claimed Welsh heritage, but his influence went far beyond national borders and the legacy of his work continues to shape life in the twenty-first century. This biography, which draws on archival research and a cache of unpublished Morgan family letters, tells the story of his life and intellectual contributions. At the age of twenty-five—and with no formal training—Morgan became an actuary at the Equitable, then a fledgling life insurance company. It was the first step on a path that would lead him to be dubbed “the father of actuarial science” and earn him the Copley Medal, the most prestigious award given by the Royal Society. His interests went far beyond actuarial tables, however—his papers on his electrical experiments reveal that, albeit unwittingly, he constructed the first X-ray tube. And as a political radical, his outspoken views put him at risk of imprisonment during Pitt’s Reign of Terror. This accessible biography introduces readers to a fascinating polymath whose influence is still being felt today.

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Authors & Contributors
Reich, Karin
Wirth, Brigitte
Gavrilina, Irina A.
Rowland Wynne
Heras, Antonio J.
Pence, David Evan
Concepts
Biographies
Correspondence and corresponding
Electricity; magnetism
Mathematics
Discovery in science
Actuarial science
Time Periods
18th century
19th century
Enlightenment
17th century
16th century
20th century, early
Places
Wales
Italy
Copenhagen (Denmark)
Americas
Scotland
Russia
Institutions
Universität Dorpat
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