John Henry Pratt
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For other persons named John Pratt, see John Pratt (disambiguation).
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. & Robertson, Edmund F., “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)
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