Horner, William George (1786–1837)

British mathematician. He was the inventor of Horner's method of solving numerical equations of all orders by continuous approximation. A similar method was discovered in 1804 by the Italian mathematician Paolo Ruffini, but neither man was aware of the other's work nor of the Chinese method perfected by Chin Kinshao in c. 1250. Horner established a school at Bath, England, in 1809, where he taught until his death.