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Edmund Whittaker
Times obituary
MATHEMATICIAN OF BREADTH AND POWER
Sir Edmund Whittaker, F.R.S., the distinguished mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher, died at his home in Edinburgh on Saturday at the age of 82.
Sir Edmund Whittaker was a mathematician of whom it has been said that the "astonishing quantity and quality of his work is probably unparalleled in modern mathematics." As well as his original contributions, which showed unusual versatility, he had a gift for critical and orderly exposition which made him both a great teacher and a great writer of books. He was also a historian of mathematical physics, and in this capacity showed an unusual degree of ability to reconstruct the difficulties and achievements of earlier periods; and, as if this were not enough, he contributed, especially in later years, to the philosophy of the physical sciences. His energy and determination in fulfilling his many interests were the envy of friends and colleagues. Retirement, for Whittaker, meant leisure to work.
Among his contributions to mathematics were original work in the theories of solving dynamical problems and differential equations, and of interpolation between known values; while in recent years he contributed to the mathematics of relativity, electromagnetism, and quantum theory. As a teacher, his memorial is the mathematical school at Edinburgh, which was essentially his own creation. As a writer of books, his treatise on dynamics was cited by the late Sir Arthur Eddington for the modernity of its outlook. It "fairly reeked" of "action"—a key concept developed as the action theory of dynamics before quantum theory had arrived to need it
SCIENTIFIC HISTORY
Regardless of the wide range of his strictly mathematical writing, Whittaker had the unusual distinction of having written a classic of scientific history—A History of the Theories of Aether and Electricity, published in 1910—and then, more than 30 years later, of having set about its revision, expansion, and bringing up to date, to include such a quantity of new material that any lesser man would have been daunted. The first volume of the new edition was published in 1951, and by the time the second was being written, he had decided that a third would be needed. The special ability shown in this department of his work was his power to perceive and present to others the quality of the contributions which he described. As Professor McCrea has written, he showed "where the great pioneers were truly great." As with Eddington, there was an element of the mystic in Whittaker's approach to the wider problems of nature, science, and philosophy In his Theories of the Universe and the Arguments for the Existence of God (1946) he gave a sympathetic interpretation of Aquinas and, from the universality of physical law, concluded that "the proof from Order is today more complete, more comprehensive, and more majestic than in the form in which it was presented in the 13th century." Not surprisingly, he was invited to be the 1951 speaker in the series of Eddington memorial lectures and gave a distinguished interpretation in which there was perhaps as much of Whittaker as Eddington.
All the while he was a brilliant teacher, a master of his subject, with a great love of his fellow men. His warmth and his interest in his friends and students made him the most agreeable of companions. Scholars from abroad who knew him seldom failed to visit him and enjoy his conversation, and the friendships he thus founded kept up by correspondence to all parts of the world.
HONOURS AT CAMBRIDGE
Edmund Taylor was born on October 24, 1873, the son of John Whittaker of Birkdale. He was educated at Manchester Grammar School and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he was Second Wrangler in 1895, a Tyson medallist, and first Smith's prizeman. He was elected to a fellowship of his college in 1896 and was college lecturer in mathematics until 1905. The following year he was appointed Royal Astronomer of Ireland. He was already the author of various scientific works and a contributor to the publications of the Royal Society (of which he was elected a Fellow in 1905) and of the Royal Astronomical Society when, in 1912, he was elected to succeed Professor Chrystal in the chair of mathematics at Edinburgh University. It was during his tenure of that chair (34 years, until his retirement in 1946) that his most important work was done.
He held office in a number of scientific societies, including the presidency of the Mathematical Association in 1920-21 and of the section of mathematics and physics of the British Association in 1927. And from 1939 to 1944 he was president of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. He delivered the Riddell lectures at Durham in 1941, the Donnellan lectures at Dublin in 1946, the Tarner lectures at Cambridge in 1947, and was Herbert Spencer lecturer at Oxford in 1948. He was also visiting Hitchcock Professor at the University of California in 1934. The Royal Society awarded him the Sylvester Medal in 1931 and the Copley Medal in 1954. He was a member of several foreign learned societies, and it was announced earlier this month that he had been elected a correspondent member of the French Academy of Sciences.
He was received into the Roman Catholic Church in 1930 and was later appointed a member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. In more than one of his books, including The Beginning and End of the World (the Riddell lectures) and Space and Spirit, he was concerned to re-establish a connection between modern physical theories and natural theology.
He married, in 1901, Mary, daughter of the Rev. Thomas Boyd. There were three sons and two daughters of the marriage. The second son, Dr. J. M. Whittaker, F.R.S., was professor of mathematics at Liverpool University before becoming Vice-Chancellor of Sheffield University in 1952.
MATHEMATICIAN OF BREADTH AND POWER
Sir Edmund Whittaker, F.R.S., the distinguished mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher, died at his home in Edinburgh on Saturday at the age of 82.
Sir Edmund Whittaker was a mathematician of whom it has been said that the "astonishing quantity and quality of his work is probably unparalleled in modern mathematics." As well as his original contributions, which showed unusual versatility, he had a gift for critical and orderly exposition which made him both a great teacher and a great writer of books. He was also a historian of mathematical physics, and in this capacity showed an unusual degree of ability to reconstruct the difficulties and achievements of earlier periods; and, as if this were not enough, he contributed, especially in later years, to the philosophy of the physical sciences. His energy and determination in fulfilling his many interests were the envy of friends and colleagues. Retirement, for Whittaker, meant leisure to work.
Among his contributions to mathematics were original work in the theories of solving dynamical problems and differential equations, and of interpolation between known values; while in recent years he contributed to the mathematics of relativity, electromagnetism, and quantum theory. As a teacher, his memorial is the mathematical school at Edinburgh, which was essentially his own creation. As a writer of books, his treatise on dynamics was cited by the late Sir Arthur Eddington for the modernity of its outlook. It "fairly reeked" of "action"—a key concept developed as the action theory of dynamics before quantum theory had arrived to need it
SCIENTIFIC HISTORY
Regardless of the wide range of his strictly mathematical writing, Whittaker had the unusual distinction of having written a classic of scientific history—A History of the Theories of Aether and Electricity, published in 1910—and then, more than 30 years later, of having set about its revision, expansion, and bringing up to date, to include such a quantity of new material that any lesser man would have been daunted. The first volume of the new edition was published in 1951, and by the time the second was being written, he had decided that a third would be needed. The special ability shown in this department of his work was his power to perceive and present to others the quality of the contributions which he described. As Professor McCrea has written, he showed "where the great pioneers were truly great." As with Eddington, there was an element of the mystic in Whittaker's approach to the wider problems of nature, science, and philosophy In his Theories of the Universe and the Arguments for the Existence of God (1946) he gave a sympathetic interpretation of Aquinas and, from the universality of physical law, concluded that "the proof from Order is today more complete, more comprehensive, and more majestic than in the form in which it was presented in the 13th century." Not surprisingly, he was invited to be the 1951 speaker in the series of Eddington memorial lectures and gave a distinguished interpretation in which there was perhaps as much of Whittaker as Eddington.
All the while he was a brilliant teacher, a master of his subject, with a great love of his fellow men. His warmth and his interest in his friends and students made him the most agreeable of companions. Scholars from abroad who knew him seldom failed to visit him and enjoy his conversation, and the friendships he thus founded kept up by correspondence to all parts of the world.
HONOURS AT CAMBRIDGE
Edmund Taylor was born on October 24, 1873, the son of John Whittaker of Birkdale. He was educated at Manchester Grammar School and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he was Second Wrangler in 1895, a Tyson medallist, and first Smith's prizeman. He was elected to a fellowship of his college in 1896 and was college lecturer in mathematics until 1905. The following year he was appointed Royal Astronomer of Ireland. He was already the author of various scientific works and a contributor to the publications of the Royal Society (of which he was elected a Fellow in 1905) and of the Royal Astronomical Society when, in 1912, he was elected to succeed Professor Chrystal in the chair of mathematics at Edinburgh University. It was during his tenure of that chair (34 years, until his retirement in 1946) that his most important work was done.
He held office in a number of scientific societies, including the presidency of the Mathematical Association in 1920-21 and of the section of mathematics and physics of the British Association in 1927. And from 1939 to 1944 he was president of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. He delivered the Riddell lectures at Durham in 1941, the Donnellan lectures at Dublin in 1946, the Tarner lectures at Cambridge in 1947, and was Herbert Spencer lecturer at Oxford in 1948. He was also visiting Hitchcock Professor at the University of California in 1934. The Royal Society awarded him the Sylvester Medal in 1931 and the Copley Medal in 1954. He was a member of several foreign learned societies, and it was announced earlier this month that he had been elected a correspondent member of the French Academy of Sciences.
He was received into the Roman Catholic Church in 1930 and was later appointed a member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. In more than one of his books, including The Beginning and End of the World (the Riddell lectures) and Space and Spirit, he was concerned to re-establish a connection between modern physical theories and natural theology.
He married, in 1901, Mary, daughter of the Rev. Thomas Boyd. There were three sons and two daughters of the marriage. The second son, Dr. J. M. Whittaker, F.R.S., was professor of mathematics at Liverpool University before becoming Vice-Chancellor of Sheffield University in 1952.
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