Mathematicians Of The Day
3rd June
On this day in 1663, Robert Hooke was elected to the Royal Society and, although he was still receiving no payment, at least the Society was prepared to allow him to become a Fellow without paying the annual fees.
The postage stamp of one of today's mathematicians at THIS LINK was issued in 1990.
The postage stamp of one of today's mathematicians at THIS LINK was issued in 1990.
Click on Ⓟ for a poster.
Born:
- 1659: David Gregory Ⓟ
- 1726: James Hutton Ⓟ
- 1844: Paul Mansion Ⓟ
- 1885: Salvatore Cherubino
- 1906: G de B Robinson Ⓟ
- 1914: Harry Pitt Ⓟ
- 1923: Igor Rostislavovich Shafarevich Ⓟ
- 1928: Karl Gruenberg Ⓟ
Died:
- 1903: Leopold Gegenbauer Ⓟ
- 1971: Heinz Hopf Ⓟ
- 1980: Naum Il'ich Akhiezer Ⓟ
- 1994: Roberto Vázquez Ⓟ
- 1995: J Presper Eckert Ⓟ
- 2003: John Hildebrant Ⓟ
- 2010: Vladimir Arnold Ⓟ
Quotation of the day
From Vladimir Arnold
All mathematics is divided into three parts:
cryptography (paid for by CIA, KGB and the like)
hydrodynamics (supported by manufacturers of atomic submarines)
celestial mechanics (financed by military and other institutions dealing with missiles, such as NASA).
Cryptography has generated number theory, algebraic geometry over finite fields, algebra, combinatorics and computers.
Hydrodynamics procreated complex analysis, partial differential equations, Lie groups and algebra theory, cohomology theory and scientific computing.
Celestial mechanics is the origin of dynamical systems, linear algebra, topology, variational calculus and symplectic geometry.
The existence of mysterious relations between all these different domains is the most striking and delightful feature of mathematics (having no rational explanation).