William Parry
FRS (3 July 1934 – 20 August 2006) was an English mathematician who worked in
dynamical systems, and, in particular,
ergodic theory. In particular, he studied
subshifts of finite type nilflows.
Life
Bill Parry was born in
Coventry
Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...
in the
Warwickshire
Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Av ...
(now the
West Midlands
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...
), England, the sixth of seven children. Although he failed the
eleven-plus exam
The eleven-plus (11+) is a standardized examination administered to some students in England and Northern Ireland in their last year of primary education, which governs admission to grammar schools and other secondary schools which use academi ...
, Parry was persuaded by his mathematics teacher at
Coventry Junior Technical School, specialising in metalwork and woodwork, to aim for university. To get appropriate tuition, he had to travel to
Birmingham Technical College
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
. He won a place at
University College London
, mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £143 million (2020)
, budget = ...
. Following an MSc at the
University of Liverpool
, mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning
, established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...
, he returned to London to study at
Imperial College with
Yael Dowker
Yael Naim Dowker (1919–2016) was an English mathematician, prominent especially due to her work in the fields of measure theory, ergodic theory and topological dynamics.
Biography
Yael Naim (later Dowker) was born in Tel Aviv. She left for t ...
, obtaining his PhD in 1960, with thesis ''Ergodic and mixing transformations''.
Having served in lecturing positions at
Birmingham University
, mottoeng = Through efforts to heights
, established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...
and the
University of Sussex
, mottoeng = Be Still and Know
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £14.4 million (2020)
, budget = £319.6 million (2019–20)
, chancellor = Sanjeev Bhaskar
, vice_chancellor = Sasha Roseneil
, ...
, Parry was appointed to a readership at the recently created
University of Warwick
, mottoeng = Mind moves matter
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £7.0 million (2021)
, budget = £698.2 million (2020â ...
in 1968; his was the first appointment in analysis. Two years later, he gave a particularly well-received address at the Sixteenth
International Congress of Mathematicians in Nice, France, and was promoted to professor.
He played a key role in the Warwick Mathematics Department, and was Chair of the Department for 2 years. The rapid rise of the Department's international reputation was due to many, among whom Parry featured prominently. His great mathematical achievements were recognized by his early election to the
Royal Society
The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
in 1984; however, he rarely used the title "Fellow of the Royal Society" except to aid specific causes of interest.
Parry continued to contribute to the mathematical community and others' learning up until his death: he taught the University of Warwick's undergraduate course on ergodic theory as late as 2003.
His published works include more than 80 research articles and four books. His doctoral students include
Mark Pollicott
Mark Pollicott (born 24 September 1959) is a British mathematician known for his contributions to ergodic theory and dynamical systems. He has a particular interest in applications to other areas of mathematics, including geometry, number ...
and
Mary Rees.
He died in
Marton, Warwickshire
Marton is a village and civil parish in Warwickshire, England. The parish is within the Borough of Rugby and in the 2011 Census' had a population of 484. The hamlet of Marton Moor lies south of the village.
Marton is on the A423 road between ...
, of cancer exacerbated by
MRSA
Methicillin-resistant ''Staphylococcus aureus'' (MRSA) is a group of Gram-positive bacteria that are genetically distinct from other strains of ''Staphylococcus aureus''. MRSA is responsible for several difficult-to-treat infections in humans. ...
, at the age of 72, on 20 August 2006.
Research
In 1975, Parry and
Dennis Sullivan
Dennis Parnell Sullivan (born February 12, 1941) is an American mathematician known for his work in algebraic topology, geometric topology, and dynamical systems. He holds the Albert Einstein Chair at the City University of New York Graduate ...
introduced the topological
Parry–Sullivan invariant In mathematics, the Parry–Sullivan invariant (or Parry–Sullivan number) is a numerical quantity of interest in the study of incidence matrices in graph theory, and of certain one-dimensional dynamical systems. It provides a partial classificati ...
for flows in one-dimensional dynamical systems.
See also
*
Parry–Daniels map
In mathematics, the Parry–Daniels map is a function studied in the context of dynamical systems. Typical questions concern the existence of an invariant or ergodic measure for the map.
It is named after the English mathematician Bill Parry and ...
*
Parry–Sullivan invariant In mathematics, the Parry–Sullivan invariant (or Parry–Sullivan number) is a numerical quantity of interest in the study of incidence matrices in graph theory, and of certain one-dimensional dynamical systems. It provides a partial classificati ...
*
Parry measure
PARRY was an early example of a chatbot, implemented in 1972 by psychiatrist Kenneth Colby.
History
PARRY was written in 1972 by psychiatrist Kenneth Colby, then at Stanford University. While ELIZA was a tongue-in-cheek simulation of a Rogeria ...
References
External links
*
Obituaries
An obituary (obit for short) is an article about a recently deceased person. Newspapers often publish obituaries as news articles. Although obituaries tend to focus on positive aspects of the subject's life, this is not always the case. Acc ...
:
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Parry, Bill
1934 births
2006 deaths
20th-century English mathematicians
21st-century English mathematicians
Dynamical systems theorists
Alumni of Imperial College London
Alumni of the University of Liverpool
Alumni of University College London
Academics of the University of Birmingham
Academics of the University of Sussex
Academics of the University of Warwick
Fellows of the Royal Society
Infectious disease deaths in England
Deaths from cancer in England
Deaths from methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
People from Coventry