David Gregory (mathematician)

David Gregory
Born	?1659 Aberdeen, Scotland
Died	10 October 1708(1708-10-10) (aged 49) Maidenhead, Berkshire, England
Residence	Scotland, Netherlands, France, England
Nationality	Scottish
Fields	Mathematics
Institutions	University of Edinburgh Balliol College, Oxford
Alma mater	University of Aberdeen University of Leiden
Notable students	John Keill John Craig
Known for	Development of infinite series
Influences	James Gregory, Archibald Pitcairne, Isaac Newton
Influenced	Colin Maclaurin, William Whiston
Notes
He is the nephew of James Gregory.

David Gregory (originally spelt Gregorie) FRS (?1659 – 10 October 1708) was a Scottish mathematician and astronomer. He was professor of mathematics at the University of Edinburgh, Savilian Professor of Astronomy at the University of Oxford, and a commentator on Isaac Newton's Principia.

The fourth of the fifteen children of David Gregorie, a doctor from Kinnairdy, Banffshire, and Jean Walker of Orchiston, David was born in Upper Kirkgate, Aberdeen. The nephew of astronomer and mathematician James Gregory, David, like his influential uncle before him, studied at Aberdeen Grammar School and Marischal College (University of Aberdeen), from 1671 to 1675, beginning when he was only 12 years old. After his university studies (he never graduated), still only 16 years old, Gregory visited several countries on the continent, including the Netherlands (where he began studying medicine at Leiden University) and France, and did not return to Scotland until 1683.

In 1690, during a period of political and religious unrest in Scotland (the Gregories were Episcopalians, and associated with the Jacobite cause), Gregory decided to leave for England where, in 1691, he was elected Savilian Professor at the University of Oxford, due in large part to the influence of Isaac Newton. The same year he was elected to be a Fellow of the Royal Society. In 1692, he was elected a Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford.