Collins, John (1625–1683)

English mathematician. He published mathematical works and acted as a clearing house for new discoveries by corresponding with all the major scientific figures of his time, including Isaac Newton, Isaac Barrow, John Wallis, Christiaan Huygens, Edmond Halley, and Gottfried Leibniz.

Collins was taught mathematics while working for John Marr, clerk of the kitchen to the Prince of Wales. Later he worked as a teacher in London and wrote several books, including An Introduction to Merchants Accounts, Decimal Arithmetick, Geometricall Dyalling, and The Mariners Plain Scale New Plain'd. After the Restoration in 1660 he was appointed successively accountant to the excise, accountant in chancery, and secretary to the council of plantations. His Arithmetic in Whole Numbers and Fractions, Both Vulgar and Decimal was published posthumously in 1688.

Collins, (Lewis) John (1905–1982)

English Christian social reformer, peace campaigner, and cleric. He joined the Labour Party in 1938 and formed Christian Action in 1946. Following his appointment as a canon of St Paul's Cathedral in 1948, he became a national figure campaigning for social reform, justice, and peace. He was a founding sponsor of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) in 1958 and served as its first chair 1958–60 in an uneasy relationship with its president, Bertrand Russell.

He was also active in campaigning against South African apartheid, being awarded a gold medal in 1978 by the United Nations Committee against Apartheid. His autobiography, Faith Under Fire, was published in 1966. Collins remained at St Paul's until 1981.

He was educated at Cambridge, ordained at Canterbury Cathedral in 1928, and taught theology at King's College, London.