Geometry, analysis, and the baptism of slaves: John West in Scotland and Jamaica
John West (1756-1817) studied and taught at St. Andrews where James Ivory and John Leslie were among his students. In 1784 he published a textbook ``Elements of mathematics, for the use of schools''. In the same year he emigrated to Jamaica, found employment as a teacher and, from 1790 until the end of his life, as an Anglican parish rector. In isolation he wrote two mathematical treatises, to be edited by John Leslie who delayed publication which was effected by Edward Sang as late as 1838. The author has, in spite of scarcity of sources, succeeded in writing a vivid biography of West, and thorough evluations of his works. The ``Elements'', much used both in Edinburgh and in St. Andrews, are a text on classical Euclidean geometry, yet based on progressive views on mathematical education. They present a considerable reordering of the propositions of Euclid, substitutions of many new proofs, and relegation of some theorems as exercises. The text also includes solid geometry, conic sections, spherical geometry and trigonometry, and `mensuration'. The latter part shows West's early interest and skill with efficient algorithms for computing numerical quantities. In 1803 West visited London and presented, though without success, a (not surviving) memoir on nautical problems to the Board of Longitude. Sections of his second treatise deal with such topics. The first treatise, On Analytical Functions, is a surprising text. Had it been published promptly, it could have played a role in introducing continental analysis into Britain. It displays influences of Lagrange, Arbogast, and Euler, but is fairly original in presentation and content. The second treatise deals with trigonometric functions, logarithms, infinite series, the construction of mathematical tables, and applications to astronomy. Again, there are nice and original contributions, among them a proof that ``the seventeenth part of the circle can be determined geometrically''.
scientific article; zbMATH DE number 1156721