Talk:Colin Maclaurin

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Article title[edit]

I suspect that the correct spelling of Colin's surname is "MacLaurin", with a capital "L". This spelling mistake is often made - I'd know (just look at my username)! As far as I am aware Scottish names also capitalize the part after the "Mc" or "Mac". I'm just keen to see that my ancestor and namesake is fairly represented. :-) --Colin MacLaurin 17:12, 18 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I'm surprised this hasn't been resolved. In fact, there doesn't seem to be a single accepted spelling, so I'm going to modify the introduction to more accurately reflect that.

—DIV (128.250.80.15 (talk) 09:46, 25 June 2008 (UTC))[reply]

Is the Gaelic explanation of "MacLaurin" really required? Wee Jimmy (talk) 15:18, 30 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Request[edit]

The date of publication of the Maclaurin series would be a nice addition, if anyone knows it.

Pronunciation[edit]

What is the correct pronunciation of his surname (including stress)? Reminiscenza 06:12, 19 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Correction[edit]

Technically, Alia Sabur is not the youngest because in addition to being hired three days before her 19th birthday, she did not actually start working as a college professor until a month later. She was "hired" ahead of time simply so she could be recorded as the youngest. —Preceding unsigned comment added by SenSo (talk • contribs) 16:10, 26 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I'm not convinced the Maclaurin/Sabur comparison is an entirely valid one, regardless of what the Guinness Book of Records says. Alia Sabur's achievement is certainly an impressive one (when I was that age, I'd only just started my BA) but she's an assistant professor (a lecturer in UK terminology) whereas Maclaurin was appointed to a chair - the equivalent of a full professorship in US terminology. -- Nicholas Jackson (talk) 16:37, 26 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I've cut back the editorialising and left the article containing what is undisputed: that he was the youngest professor ever. Any editor wishing to add to this material should provide a reliable source, and consider that the burden of proof is on the editor wishing to add, or retain, material. SHEFFIELDSTEEL^TALK 21:43, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Nice article[edit]

I just stumbled upon a nice article about Maclaurin.

Was Newton's Calculus a Dead End? The Continental Influence of Maclaurin's Treatise of Fluxions Author(s): Judith V. Grabiner Source: The American Mathematical Monthly, Vol. 104, No. 5 (May, 1997), pp. 393-410 Published by: Mathematical Association of America Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2974733 Accessed: 21/12/2008 19:46

I will read it and see if there is anything worth adding. Thenub314 (talk) 00:59, 22 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I have added some information about his mathematics from this article. Perhaps we should have a separate section on his mathematics and his life. I do not feel I made the two fit together very well. Thenub314 (talk) 13:37, 22 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

State of the Article[edit]

I just went through and did a copyedit for this article, and I had a few thoughts. First, there is definitely some excellent information presented, although there are a lot of extra sources that don't appear to be cited (see the "sources" section). Secondly, there is too great a variety of information for just one section, it needs to be broken up. This needs work, that's for sure, to raise its article class. Good job researching, though. Spring12 (talk) 21:25, 2 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Confusion[edit]

"Maclaurin attributed Taylor in his work on approximating functions by series. [5]. At the time, Maclaurin was unaware and published"

The previous sentence says Maclaurin attributed Taylor, and the next says he was unaware...unaware of what? Taylor's work? If that's the case then the two sentences are contradictory. Peter Stalin (talk) 16:12, 4 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

External links modified[edit]

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External links modified[edit]

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Unclear "record"[edit]

The section Academic career begins as follows:

"He graduated Master of Arts three years later by defending a thesis on the Power of Gravity, and remained at Glasgow to study divinity until he was 19, when he was elected professor of mathematics in a ten-day competition at Marischal College and University in Aberdeen. This record as the world's youngest professor endured until March 2008, when the record was officially given to Alia Sabur."

But it is never stated what this "record" is.

(I know of someone who was a professor at a leading U.S. university at age 19, in the mid 1960s.)

So the claim about this record "enduring" is seriously open to question.