John Henry Pratt

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John Henry Pratt (June 4, 1809 - December 28, 1871) was a British clergyman and mathematician who devised a theory of crustal balance which would become the basis for the isostasy principle.

Pratt was born in London and educated as a mathematician at Cambridge University. He wrote Pratt's Mechanical Philosophy, full title: The Mathematical Principles of Mechanical Philosophy and their application to Elementary Mechanics and Architecture, but chiefly to The Theory of Universal Gravitation, a textbook of some 600 pages. While serving as the Archdeacon of India, Pratt arrived at his theory of crustal balance based upon a survey of India. He died in Ghazipur, India.

[edit] External links

• O'Connor, John J., and Edmund F. Robertson. "John Henry Pratt". MacTutor History of Mathematics archive.
• Extracts from the Royal Society of London
• The Mathematical Principles of Mechanical Philosophy by John Henry Pratt M.A. (Google Books)