Tuesday, November 8, 2016

Roger Cotes of Newton-Cotes Fame

We have been discussing Newton-Cotes integration rules in our class this week.

Everyone knows Newton. Not everyone knows the other guy: Robert Cotes.

Robert Cotes died young: he was only 33, when he died of a violent fever. Nevertheless, he made three important contributions:

  • helped Newton edit the second edition of the Principia
  • helped develop the Newton-Cotes forumulae
  • discovered a version of the famour Euler Formula: \[e^{i\theta} = \cos \theta+i \sin \theta.\]
They are beautifully summarized in this blog.

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