Henry George Forder (27 September 1889 – 21 September 1981) was a New Zealand mathematician.

Academic career

Born in

Shotesham All Saints Shotesham () is a village in South Norfolk which lies approximately 5 miles south of Norwich. It sits next to Stoke Holy Cross and Saxlingham Nethergate in the valley of the River Tas. It covers an area of and had a population of 539 in 210 hous ...

, near

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

, he won a scholarships first to a Grammar school and then to

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. After teaching mathematics at a number of schools, he was appointed to the chair of mathematics at

Auckland University College , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

in New Zealand in 1933. He was very critical of the state of the New Zealand curriculum and set about writing a series of well received

textbook A textbook is a book containing a comprehensive compilation of content in a branch of study with the intention of explaining it. Textbooks are produced to meet the needs of educators, usually at educational institutions. Schoolbooks are textboo ...

s. His ''Foundations of Euclidean Geometry'' (1927) was reviewed by F.W. Owens, who noted that 40 pages are devoted to "concepts of classes,

relation Relation or relations may refer to: General uses *International relations, the study of interconnection of politics, economics, and law on a global level *Interpersonal relationship, association or acquaintance between two or more people *Public ...

s, linear order, non archimedean systems, ..." and that order axioms together with a continuity axiom and a Euclidean

parallel axiom In geometry, the parallel postulate, also called Euclid's fifth postulate because it is the fifth postulate in Euclid's ''Elements'', is a distinctive axiom in Euclidean geometry. It states that, in two-dimensional geometry: ''If a line segme ...

are the required foundation. The object achieved is a "continuous and rigorous development of the uclideandoctrine in the light of modern investigations." In 1929 Forder obtained drawings and notes of Robert William Genese on the

exterior algebra In mathematics, the exterior algebra, or Grassmann algebra, named after Hermann Grassmann, is an algebra that uses the exterior product or wedge product as its multiplication. In mathematics, the exterior product or wedge product of vectors is ...

Grassmann Hermann Günther Grassmann (german: link=no, Graßmann, ; 15 April 1809 – 26 September 1877) was a German polymath known in his day as a linguistics, linguist and now also as a mathematician. He was also a physicist, general scholar, and publi ...

. He relied on methods of

H. F. Baker Henry Frederick Baker FRS FRSE (3 July 1866 – 17 March 1956) was a British mathematician, working mainly in algebraic geometry, but also remembered for contributions to partial differential equations (related to what would become known as ...

in ''Principles of Geometry'' to extend Genese's beginning into a complete development with applications throughout geometry. When ''The Calculus of Extension'' appeared in 1941 it was reviewed by Homer V. Craig: "The theorem density is exceptionally high and consequently despite the superior exposition it is not an easy book to work straight through – perhaps the key chapters suffer from a lack of recapitulation... tprovides the best exposition of the fundamental processes of the ''Ausdehnungslehre'' and the most inclusive treatment of the geometrical applications available at present." Henry Forder was elected

Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

in 1947 and received an honorary

DSc DSC may refer to: Academia * Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) * District Selection Committee, an entrance exam in India * Doctor of Surgical Chiropody, superseded in the 1960s by Doctor of Podiatric Medicine Educational institutions * Dalton State Col ...

from the

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

in 1959.

Forder lectureship

The

Forder Lectureship The Forder Lectureship is awarded by the London Mathematical Society to a research mathematician from the United Kingdom who has made an eminent contribution to the field of mathematics and who can also speak effectively at a more popular level. Th ...

was established jointly by the

London Mathematical Society The London Mathematical Society (LMS) is one of the United Kingdom's learned societies for mathematics (the others being the Royal Statistical Society (RSS), the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications (IMA), the Edinburgh Mathematical S ...

and the

New Zealand Mathematical Society The New Zealand Mathematical Society is a New Zealand based learned society of mathematicians. It is listed by the Royal Society of New Zealand as the affiliate organisation responsible for mathematics research, and by the International Mathematical ...

in his honour in 1986.

Selected works

* 1927:
The Foundations of Euclidean Geometry
' via

Internet Archive 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, ...

* 1930: ''A School Geometry'' * 1931: ''Higher Course Geometry'' * 1941:
The Calculus of Extension
' via Internet Archive * 1950:
Geometry
' via Internet Archive * 1953: ''Coordinates in Geometry''

References

John C. Butcher John Charles Butcher (born 31 March 1933) is a New Zealand mathematician who specialises in numerical methods for the solution of ordinary differential equations.. Butcher works on multistage methods for initial value problems, such as Rung ...

(1985) "Obituary: Henry George Forder", ''

Bulletin of the London Mathematical Society The London Mathematical Society (LMS) is one of the United Kingdom's learned societies for mathematics (the others being the Royal Statistical Society (RSS), the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications (IMA), the Edinburgh Mathematical ...

'' 17(2): 161 {{DEFAULTSORT:Forder, Henry George Fellows of the Royal Society of New Zealand People educated at Paston College Alumni of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge People from Shotesham English emigrants to New Zealand University of Auckland alumni University of Auckland faculty 1889 births 1981 deaths Textbook writers 20th-century New Zealand mathematicians Geometers