James Joseph Sylvester (nonfiction): Difference between revisions
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James Joseph Sylvester FRS (3 September 1814 – 15 March 1897) was an English mathematician. He made fundamental contributions to matrix theory, invariant theory, number theory, partition theory, and combinatorics. He played a leadership role in American mathematics in the later half of the 19th century as a professor at the Johns Hopkins University and as founder of the American Journal of Mathematics. At his death, he was professor at Oxford. | [[File:James Joseph Sylvester.jpg|thumb|James Joseph Sylvester.]]'''James Joseph Sylvester''' FRS (3 September 1814 – 15 March 1897) was an English [[Mathematician (nonfiction)|mathematician]]. | ||
He made fundamental contributions to matrix theory, invariant theory, number theory, partition theory, and combinatorics. | |||
He played a leadership role in American mathematics in the later half of the 19th century as a professor at the Johns Hopkins University and as founder of the American Journal of Mathematics. | |||
Sylvester invented a great number of mathematical terms such as "matrix" (in 1850), "graph" (combinatorics), and "discriminant". | |||
He coined the term "totient" for Euler's totient function φ(n). | |||
In 1872, he finally received his B.A. and M.A. from Cambridge, having been denied the degrees due to his being a Jew. | |||
One of Sylvester's lifelong passions was for poetry; he read and translated works from the original French, German, Italian, Latin and Greek, and many of his mathematical papers contain illustrative quotes from classical poetry. Following his early retirement, Sylvester (1870) published a book entitled ''The Laws of Verse'' in which he attempted to codify a set of laws for prosody in poetry. | |||
At his death, he was professor at Oxford. | |||
His collected scientific work fills four volumes. In 1880, the Royal Society of London awarded Sylvester the Copley Medal, its highest award for scientific achievement; in 1901, it instituted the Sylvester Medal in his memory, to encourage mathematical research after his death in Oxford. | |||
In Discrete geometry he is remembered for Sylvester's Problem and a result on the orchard problem. | |||
== In the News == | == In the News == | ||
| Line 7: | Line 25: | ||
== Fiction cross-reference == | == Fiction cross-reference == | ||
* [[Crimes against mathematical constants]] | |||
== Nonfiction cross-reference == | == Nonfiction cross-reference == | ||
* [[Augustus De Morgan (nonfiction)]] - Academic advisor | |||
* [[William Durfee (nonfiction)]] - Doctoral student | |||
* [[George B. Halsted (nonfiction)]] - Doctoral student | |||
* [[John Hymers (nonfiction)]] - Academic advisor | |||
* [[Christine Ladd-Franklin (nonfiction)]] - Student | |||
* [[Mathematics (nonfiction)]] | * [[Mathematics (nonfiction)]] | ||
* [[William Roberts McDaniel (nonfiction)]] - Student | |||
* [[Harry Fielding Reid (nonfiction)]] - Student | |||
* [[Washington Irving Stringham (nonfiction)]] - Doctoral student | |||
* [[Isaac Todhunter (nonfiction)]] - Student | |||
External links: | External links: | ||
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Joseph_Sylvester James Joseph Sylvester] @ Wikipedia | * [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Joseph_Sylvester James Joseph Sylvester] @ Wikipedia | ||
[[Category:Nonfiction (nonfiction)]] | [[Category:Nonfiction (nonfiction)]] | ||
[[Category:Mathematicians (nonfiction)]] | [[Category:Mathematicians (nonfiction)]] | ||
[[Category:People (nonfiction)]] | [[Category:People (nonfiction)]] | ||
Latest revision as of 09:31, 21 November 2017
James Joseph Sylvester FRS (3 September 1814 – 15 March 1897) was an English mathematician.
He made fundamental contributions to matrix theory, invariant theory, number theory, partition theory, and combinatorics.
He played a leadership role in American mathematics in the later half of the 19th century as a professor at the Johns Hopkins University and as founder of the American Journal of Mathematics.
Sylvester invented a great number of mathematical terms such as "matrix" (in 1850), "graph" (combinatorics), and "discriminant".
He coined the term "totient" for Euler's totient function φ(n).
In 1872, he finally received his B.A. and M.A. from Cambridge, having been denied the degrees due to his being a Jew.
One of Sylvester's lifelong passions was for poetry; he read and translated works from the original French, German, Italian, Latin and Greek, and many of his mathematical papers contain illustrative quotes from classical poetry. Following his early retirement, Sylvester (1870) published a book entitled The Laws of Verse in which he attempted to codify a set of laws for prosody in poetry.
At his death, he was professor at Oxford.
His collected scientific work fills four volumes. In 1880, the Royal Society of London awarded Sylvester the Copley Medal, its highest award for scientific achievement; in 1901, it instituted the Sylvester Medal in his memory, to encourage mathematical research after his death in Oxford.
In Discrete geometry he is remembered for Sylvester's Problem and a result on the orchard problem.
In the News
Fiction cross-reference
Nonfiction cross-reference
- Augustus De Morgan (nonfiction) - Academic advisor
- William Durfee (nonfiction) - Doctoral student
- George B. Halsted (nonfiction) - Doctoral student
- John Hymers (nonfiction) - Academic advisor
- Christine Ladd-Franklin (nonfiction) - Student
- Mathematics (nonfiction)
- William Roberts McDaniel (nonfiction) - Student
- Harry Fielding Reid (nonfiction) - Student
- Washington Irving Stringham (nonfiction) - Doctoral student
- Isaac Todhunter (nonfiction) - Student
External links:
- James Joseph Sylvester @ Wikipedia