James Hodgson

James Hodgson (1672 to 1755) was an English astronomer, teacher of mathematics, lecturer and writer. A nephew of Christopher Wren, he worked as an assistant to the first Astronomer Royal, John Flamsteed, at the Royal Observatory at Greenwich between 1695 and 1702, and in 1702 he married Flamsteed's niece. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1703 and joined its council in 1733. From 1709 until his death he was master of mathematics at the Royal Mathematical School at Christ's Hospital, where he is credited with raising teaching standards and examination success, and where his textbook A System of the Mathematics of 1723 promoted Flamsteed's work. After Flamsteed died, Hodgson helped his widow publish the astronomer's works and appears as co-editor of the Atlas Coelestis of 1729. He also contributed papers to the Philosophical Transactions and wrote The Theory of Navigation, The Laws of Stereographick Projection, The Doctrine of Fluxions founded on Sir Isaac Newton's Method, An Introduction to Chronology, A Treatise on Annuities and The Theory of Jupiter's Satellites. He died on 25 June 1755.