Thomas Hariot

Thomas Hariot (1560 - 1621) was an English astronomer, mathematician, ethnographer, and translator. After studying at Oxford he traveled to America for Sir Walter Raleigh. His observations of the American Indians were widely read in Europe. When he returned to England he developed the theory of refraction. Hariot is credited with bringing the potato to Ireland and England and for being the first person to make a drawing of the moon from observations through a telescope. His only published work is his algebra book Artis Analyticae Praxis in 1631. This first biography of Harriot was written in 1876, but not published until 1900. Only 167 copies were printed and it was not until 1971 that it was reissued.