Samuel Vince
historySamuel Vince (1749—1821) was an English mathematician and astronomer at the University of Cambridge.
The son of a plasterer, Vince was admitted as a sizar to Caius College, Cambridge in 1771. In 1775 he was Senior Wrangler at Cambridge. Migrating to Sidney Sussex College in 1777, he gained his M.A. in 1778 and was ordained a clergyman in 1779. As a mathematician, Vince wrote on many aspects of his expertise, including logarithms and imaginary numbers. His Observations on the Theory of the Motion and Resistance of Fluids and Experiments upon the Resistance of Bodies Moving in Fluids had later importance to aviation history. He was awarded the Copley Medal in 1780 and was Plumian Professor of Astronomy and Experimental Philosophy at Cambridge from 1796 until his death.
He was also author of the influential A Complete System of Astronomy (3 vols. 1797-1808).
He was also a clergyman who published the pamphlet The Credibility of Christianity Vindicated, In Answer to Mr. Hume’s Objections; In Two Discourses Preached Before the University of Cambridge by the Rev. S. Vince.
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