Thomas Harriot, Science Pioneer

The biography of a curious genius whose contribution in the fields of mathematics, astronomy, and botany went unrecognized until recent years draws on diary entries of Thomas Harriot's close friend, Thomas Buckner, as well as Harriot's own maps, diagrams, and handwritten notes.

Grade 6 Up-Educated at Oxford, Harriot was selected by Sir Walter Ralegh to instruct sea captains in navigation skills. In 1585, he went along on a voyage to Virginia. There he created a phonetic alphabet to use in compiling a dictionary of the Algonquin language. During his lifetime, Harriot studied and experimented in algebra, geometry, astronomy, optics, and assorted related subjects. However, he remained uninterested in preparing his work for publication and so often lost credit for his discoveries. Staiger has carefully compiled what little can be known about the man from diaries, correspondence, and other sources and supplemented it with some brief descriptions of the historical setting and facts recorded by others about events in which Harriot participated. The volume is illustrated with reproductions of prints, maps, and journal entries. Readers are given a portrait of an original and brilliant mind, forever jumping from one interest to the next, working during a time when there was much to discover if only one could find a patron to support such study. Students needing material for reports on scientists will find this a useful source. The clear but dry text will probably not entice casual readers, but those with an interest in the Elizabethan era may be drawn in.
Elaine Fort Weischedel, Turner Free Library, Randolph, MA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.