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ColinMaclaurin, of West Highland ancestry, a son of the manse, was born at Kilmodan, between the Kyles of Bute and upper Loch Fyne, in February 1698. His father, who was minister there, died soon after, and his mother died when he was 9; the care of Colin and his brothers devolved on their uncle Daniel, who was minister of the neighbouring parish of Kilfinnan. At the age of 11 Colin, already proficient in Latin and Greek, entered Glasgow University, and graduated M.A. in his fifteenth year. It was here that he discovered his mathematical bent, and he is said to have mastered the first six books of Euclid in a few days after finding them accidentally in a friend's rooms. |
