William Oughtred was baptised on 5th March 1575, at Eton College, where his father worked as a writing master. From a young age, he was immersed in learning, and it wasn’t long before he was off to King’s College, Cambridge, where he earned his BA in 1596 and his MA in 1600.
But Oughtred wasn’t just a numbers man—he was also a man of faith. In 1603, he became an ordained priest, and by 1610, he was the Rector of Albury in Surrey, a position he would hold for 50 years!
Now, here’s where things get really interesting. Oughtred wasn’t content just preaching—his real passion was mathematics.
Ever used the × symbol? Thank Oughtred. He also introduced the abbreviations "sin" and "cos" for sine and cosine, which are still used in trigonometry today!
An instrument for Oughtred's "Circles of Proportion", by Elias Allen
One of his most famous works was the Clavis Mathematicae, or “The Key of Mathematics,” written in 1631. This book was so influential that it was used by legendary scientists like Isaac Newton!
But genius often attracts controversy. Oughtred had a fierce falling out with a former student, Richard Delamain, who claimed HE had invented the slide rule and an astronomical instrument known as the horizontal instrument.
Oughtred was having none of it. He fired back with a book “The Circles of Proportion: The Just Apologie of Wil: Oughtred, Against the Slanderous Insimulations of Richard Delamain” - yes, a mouthful, but basically a 17th-century academic clapback!
Oughtred continued working until his death on June 13, 1660. His children carried on his legacy - his sons became watchmakers, and his daughter’s husband edited his works.
Even today, his name lives on. There’s even an Oughtred Society in the United States, dedicated to preserving the history of slide rules.
So, the next time you see a multiplication sign or use trigonometry, remember William Oughtred, the man who gave us the tools to understand the universe!
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