The following sections of this BookRags Literature Study Guide is offprint from Gale's For Students Series: Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Commonly Studied Works: Introduction, Author Biography, Plot Summary, Characters, Themes, Style, Historical Context, Critical Overview, Criticism and Critical Essays, Media Adaptations, Topics for Further Study, Compare & Contrast, What Do I Read Next?, For Further Study, and Sources.
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The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Guide to Literature for Young Adults: "About the Author", "Overview", "Setting", "Literary Qualities", "Social Sensitivity", "Topics for Discussion", "Ideas for Reports and Papers". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
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1584-1667
Italian mathematician who, in his efforts at "squaring the circle," developed the rudiments of the method now known as integration. A Jesuit, Gregory taught in Rome, Prague, and Spain, where he served as tutor in the court of King Philip IV. He also helped write the curriculum for a Jesuit mathematical school in Antwerp, where he taught from 1617 to 1621. Gregory became intrigued by the idea of constructing a square equal in area to a circle, using as his only tools a straight edge and compass—an operation mathematicians now know to be impossible. In the course of his efforts, however, Gregory discovered the expansion for log(1+x) for ascending powers of x, and integrated x-1 as a geometric form equivalent to the natural logarithmic function.