Benjamin Gompertz (March 5. 1779 - July 14, 1865, London, England), was a self educated mathematician, denied admission to university on account of his being Jewish. Nevertheless he was made Fellow of the Royal Society from 1819. Gompertz is today mostly known for his Gompertz's law of mortality, a demographic model published in 1825. The model can be written in this way: March 5 is the 64th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (65th in leap years). ... Events The Iron Bridge is completed across the Severn river in Shropshire; the first all cast-iron bridge ever constructed. ... July 14 is the 195th day (196th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 170 days remaining. ... 1865 is a common year starting on Sunday. ... London — containing the City of London — is the capital of the United Kingdom and of England and a major world city. With over seven million inhabitants (Londoners) in Greater London area, it is amongst the most densely populated areas in Western Europe. ... Royal motto: Dieu et mon droit (French: God and my right) Englands location within the UK Official language English de facto Capital London de facto Largest city London Area  - Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population  - Total (2001)  - Density Ranked 1st UK 49,138,831 377/km² Religion... Autodidacticism (also autodidactism) is self-education or self-directed learning. ... A mathematician is a person whose area of study and research is mathematics. ... A university is an institution of higher education and of research, which grants academic degrees. ... The word Jew ( Hebrew: יהודי) is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity and often a combination of these attributes. ... The Royal Society of London is claimed to be the oldest learned society still in existence and was founded in 1660. ... 1819 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Demography is the study of human population dynamics. ... Events January 4 - King Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies dies and is succeeded by his son Francis I of the Two Sicilies. ...

where N(t) represents number of individuals at time t, r the intrinsic growth rate and K number of individuals in equilibrium.

This model is a refinement of the demographic model of Malthus. It was used by insurance companies to calculate the cost of life insurance. The Rev. ... Life insurance policies, including pensions and life annuity policies, provide payments depending on the life or the death of a particular person or persons. ...

Gompertz's descendent Simon Gompertz is an economics presenter for the BBC. Economics is the social science studying production and consumption through measurable variables. ... A television presenter is a British term for a celebrity who is best known for introducing or appearing in television programmes. ... ...

See also

• Population dynamics

Population dynamics is the study of marginal and long-term changes in the numbers, individual weights and age composition of individuals in one or several populations, and biological and environmental processes influencing those changes. ...

References

• Gompertz, B., (1825). On the Nature of the Function Expressive of the Law of Human Mortality, and on a New Mode of Determining the Value of Life Contingencies. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Vol. 115 (1825)pp (http://visualiseur.bnf.fr/Visualiseur?Destination=Gallica&O=NUMM-55920). 513-585.

External link

• Biography (http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Gompertz.html) at the MacTutor archive