John Collins

John Collins (1625 to 1683) was an English mathematician, best known for his extensive correspondence with leading scientists and mathematicians such as Giovanni Alfonso Borelli, Gottfried Leibniz, Isaac Newton and John Wallis. That correspondence records many discoveries of his time and shows his part in making them available to a wider audience, which earned him the name English Mersenne for collecting and spreading scientific information. The son of a nonconformist minister, he was born at Wood Eaton in Oxfordshire, spent seven years at sea, and then set up in London as a teacher of mathematics. He published An Introduction to Merchants Accounts in 1652 and a series of works on quadrants, dialling and navigation, including The Mariners Plain Scale new Plained for the East India Company navy. After the Restoration he worked as an accountant in several public offices and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.