Machin, John

John Machin, (born 1680—died 1751), English mathematician, notable for studies in finding the area of a circle. In 1706 he was the first to compute the value of the constant π to 100 decimal places. Machin’s formula for π was adapted by others, including Euler, to extend his result. Machin was professor of astronomy at Gresham College, London (1713–51). He worked extensively on the lunar theory but with little success. Elected a fellow of the Royal Society (London) in 1710, he was its secretary (1718–47) and contributed papers to the Society’s Philosophical Transactions. He was a member of the committee appointed in 1712 by the Royal Society to investigate the priority dispute between Isaac Newton and Gottfried Leibniz.