Thomas Baxter

Thomas Baxter ( 1732–1740), was a schoolmaster and mathematician who published an erroneous method of squaring the circle. He was derided as a "pseudo-mathematician" by F. Y. Edgeworth, writing for the Dictionary of National Biography.

When he was master of a private school at Crathorne, North Yorkshire, Baxter composed a book entitled The Circle squared (London: 1732), published in octavo.

This book has received harsh reviews from modern mathematicians and scholars. Antiquary Edward Peacock referred to it as "no doubt, great rubbish". Mathematician Augustus De Morgan included Baxter's proof among his Budget of Paradoxes (1872), dismissing it as an absurd work.

Baxter published another work, Matho, or the Principles of Astronomy and Natural Philosophy accommodated to the Use of Younger Persons (London: 1740). Unlike Baxter's other work, this volume enjoyed considerable popularity in its time.