- English mathematical
historian who specialized in ancient Greece. His History of Greek Mathematics
1921 is regarded as the standard work on the subject in the English
language.
Heath was born in Lincolnshire, studied at Cambridge and joined the
civil service. He rose through the ranks in the Treasury Office; in
1913 he was appointed joint permanent secretary to the Treasury and
auditor of the Civil List, and he was comptroller general and secretary
to the Commissioners for the Reduction of the National Debt 1919-26.
Between 1885 and 1912, Heath edited the works of Greek mathematicians
Diophantus, Apollonius of Perga, and Archimedes. His book Aristarchus
of Samos, the Ancient Copernicus 1913 is a comprehensive account of
Aristarchus and his work on astronomy. Euclid's Elements 1908 is a monumental
work in three volumes. And in the great History of Greek Mathematics,
Heath dealt with his subjects mainly according to topics and not in
chronological order as others had done before him.
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