Diagram
Date
3 July 1703
Creator
John Flamsteed (1646 - 1719, British) , Astronomer
Object type
Archive reference number
Manuscript page number
p1
Material
Dimensions
height (page): 312mm
width (page): 195mm
width (page): 195mm
Subject
Description
A figure in a letter from John Flamsteed to Abraham Sharp dated 3 July 1703, relating to a problem Flamsteed had posed to Sharp in his letter of 14 December 1702.
'The evolutes Gg Ff are described and through a given point P are drawn Pg, Pf, running to meet the curve of the ellipse at D and C, and touching the evolutes at g and f I say PD will be the shortest, PC the longest of all right lines which can be drawn to the given ellipse from the same given point P.' (Translated in Correspondence of Flamsteed, ed. by Forbes et al., vol. 3, p. 12n12).
Abraham Sharp (1653-1742) was Flamsteed's assistant in 1684, and also in 1688-91. From 1694, he ran a family estate at Little Horton, near Bradford (see ibid., vol. 3, p. 968).
'The evolutes Gg Ff are described and through a given point P are drawn Pg, Pf, running to meet the curve of the ellipse at D and C, and touching the evolutes at g and f I say PD will be the shortest, PC the longest of all right lines which can be drawn to the given ellipse from the same given point P.' (Translated in Correspondence of Flamsteed, ed. by Forbes et al., vol. 3, p. 12n12).
Abraham Sharp (1653-1742) was Flamsteed's assistant in 1684, and also in 1688-91. From 1694, he ran a family estate at Little Horton, near Bradford (see ibid., vol. 3, p. 968).
Object history
MS/798 is a collection of letters by John Flamsteed and his wife, and by Mr Crosthwait, to Abraham Sharp between the years 1702 and 1730.
Related fellows
John Flamsteed (1646 - 1719, British) , Astronomer
Associated place