Frank Lauren Hitchcock (March 6, 1875 – May 31, 1957) was an American
mathematician
A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems.
Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change.
History
On ...
and
physicist
A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe.
Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate caus ...
known for his formulation of the
transportation problem in 1941.
Academic life
Frank did his preparatory study at
Phillips Andover Academy. He entered
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
and completed his
bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
in 1896. Then he began teaching, first in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
and at
Kenyon College
Kenyon College is a private liberal arts college in Gambier, Ohio. It was founded in 1824 by Philander Chase. Kenyon College is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.
Kenyon has 1,708 undergraduates enrolled. Its 1,000-acre campus is se ...
in
Gambier, Ohio
Gambier is a village in Knox County, Ohio, United States. The population was 2,391 at the 2010 census.
Gambier is the home of Kenyon College. A major feature is a gravel path running the length of the village, referred to as "Middle Path". This ...
. From 1904 to 1906 he taught
chemistry
Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...
at
North Dakota State University,
Fargo.
Hitchcock returned to
and began to teach at
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...
and study at the graduate level at Harvard. In 1910 he obtained a Ph.D. with a thesis entitled, ''Vector Functions of a Point.'' Hitchcock stayed at MIT until retirement, publishing his analysis of optimal distribution in 1941.
Personal life
Frank Hitchcock was descended from
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
forebears.
His mother was Susan Ida Porter (b. January 1, 1848,
Middlebury,
Vermont
Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...
) and his father was Elisha Pike Hitchcock. His parents married on June 27, 1866. Frank was born March 6, 1875, in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
.
[J. McKeen Cattell & Dean A. Brimhall (1921]
American Men of Science
page 319, link from Biodiversity Heritage Library
The Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) is the world’s largest open access digital library for biodiversity literature and archives. BHL operates as worldwide consortiumof natural history, botanical, research, and national libraries working toge ...
He had two sisters, Mary E. Hitchcock and Viola M. Hitchcock, and two brothers, George P. Hitchcock and Ernest Van Ness Hitchcock. Although Frank was born in New York City, he was raised in
Pittsford,
Vermont
Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...
.
Frank married Margaret Johnson Blakely (d. May 22, 1925) in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, France, on May 25, 1899. They had three children,
Lauren Blakely (1900-1972), who became a chemical engineer and early opponent of air pollution, John Edward (b. January 28, 1906, d. July 26, 1909), and George Blakely, January 12, 1910. At the time of his death Frank had 11 grandchildren and 6 great-grandsons.
Works
* 1910: ''Vector Functions of a Point''.
* 1915
A Classification of Quadratic Vectors Functions 1(3):177 to 183.
* 1917
On the simultaneous formulation of two linear vector functions Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy
The ''Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy'' (''PRIA'') is the journal of the Royal Irish Academy, founded in 1785 to promote the study of science, polite literature, and antiquities
Antiquities are objects from antiquity, especially the ...
Section A 34: 1 to 10.
* 1920
A study of the vector product Vφαθβ ''Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy'' Section A 35: 30 to 7.
* 1920
A Thermodynamic Study of Electrolytic Solutions ''Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America'' 6(4):186 to 197.
* 1920: ''An Identical Relation Connecting Seven Vectors''.
* 1921
The Axes of a Quadratic Vector ''Proceedings AAAS'' 56(9):331 to 351.
* 1921: with
Norbert Wiener
Norbert Wiener (November 26, 1894 – March 18, 1964) was an American mathematician and philosopher. He was a professor of mathematics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). A child prodigy, Wiener later became an early researcher i ...
, ''A New Vector Method in Integral Equations'',
MIT Journal of Mathematics and Physics volume 1.
* 1923
On Double Polyadics, with Application to the Linear Matrix Equation ''Proceedings AAAS'' 58(10): 355 to 395.
* 1923
Identities Satisfied by Algebraic Point Functions in N-space ''Proceedings AAAS'' 58(11): 399 to 421.
* 1923: with
Clark S. Robinson''Differential Equations in Applied Chemistry'' John Wiley & Sons
John Wiley & Sons, Inc., commonly known as Wiley (), is an American multinational publishing company founded in 1807 that focuses on academic publishing and instructional materials. The company produces books, journals, and encyclopedias, in p ...
, now from
Archive.org
The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...
.
* 1923: ''A Method for the Numerical Solution of Integral Equations''.
* 1924: ''The Coincident Points of Two Algebraic Transformations''.
* 1922: ''A Solution of the Linear Matrix Equation by Double Multiplication''.
* 1927
The Expression of a Tensor or a Polyadic as a Sum or Products ''Journal of Mathematics and Physics'', 6(1):164-189
References
* ''Dr. Frank L. Hitchcock, Mathematician, Professor Emeritus at M.I.T., Dies at 82,'' ''The New York Times,'' June 1, 1957, p. 17.
* Frank L. Hitchcock (1941) "The distribution of a product from several sources to numerous localities",
MIT Journal of Mathematics and Physics 20:224–230 .
External links
*
D. R. Fulkerson
Delbert Ray Fulkerson (; August 14, 1924 – January 10, 1976) was an American mathematician who co-developed the FordFulkerson algorithm, one of the most well-known algorithms to solve the maximum flow problem in Flow network, networks.
Early l ...
(1956
Hitchcock Transportation Problem RAND corporation.
*
Hitchcock's family treeObituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hitchcock, Frank Lauren
1875 births
1957 deaths
19th-century American mathematicians
20th-century American mathematicians
Massachusetts Institute of Technology faculty
Harvard University alumni
Kenyon College faculty
Phillips Academy alumni