John Robertson (1712–1776) was an English mathematician, and a Fellow, clerk and librarian of the Royal Society.
In 1747 he was appointed master of the Royal Mathematical School at Christ's Hospital, assistant there to James Hodgson.
[1] Robertson published his first book Completed Treatise on Mensuration in 1739 and was subsequently elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1741.
In this tradition Robertson wrote the two volume book The Elements of Navigation Containing the Theory and Practice, with the Necessary Tables and Compendiums for Finding the Latitude and Longitude as Sea, to which is Added a Treatise on Marine Fortification.
By 1776 the book was regarded a classic, and among the finest English language navigation educational manuals of its time.
These were On Logarithmic Tangents, On Logarithmic Lines on Gunter's Scale, On Extraordinary Phenomena in Portsmouth Harbour, On the Specific Gravity of Living Men, On the Fall of Water under Bridges, On Circulating Decimals, On the Motion of a Body deflected by Forces from Two Fixed Points, and On Twenty Cases of Compound Interest After losing his position at the Royal Naval Academy in 1766 Robertson was appointed as a clerk and librarian to the Royal Society, positions which he held until his death.