Herbert Bishop Keller (19 June 1925 in Paterson, New Jersey – 26 January 2008 in Pasadena, California) was an American

applied 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, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...

and numerical analyst. He was professor of applied mathematics, emeritus, at the

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

Early life and education

Keller graduated from the Georgia Institute of Technology with a bachelor's in electrical engineering in 1945; and from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

, later known as the

Courant Institute The Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences (commonly known as Courant or CIMS) is the mathematics research school of New York University (NYU), and is among the most prestigious mathematics schools and mathematical sciences research cente ...

, with a Ph.D. in 1954.

Career

A Fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...

, Keller was known for his contributions to the field of applied mathematics and

numerical analysis Numerical analysis is the study of algorithms that use numerical approximation (as opposed to symbolic manipulations) for the problems of mathematical analysis (as distinguished from discrete mathematics). It is the study of numerical methods ...

including

bifurcation theory Bifurcation theory is the mathematical study of changes in the qualitative or topological structure of a given family of curves, such as the integral curves of a family of vector fields, and the solutions of a family of differential equations. ...

computational fluid dynamics Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is a branch of fluid mechanics that uses numerical analysis and data structures to analyze and solve problems that involve fluid flows. Computers are used to perform the calculations required to simulate ...

(CFD), and

scientific computing Computational science, also known as scientific computing or scientific computation (SC), is a field in mathematics that uses advanced computing capabilities to understand and solve complex problems. It is an area of science that spans many disc ...

. He is the co-author, with Eugene Isaacson, of the classic textbook ''Analysis of Numerical Methods'', which is still in use in leading graduate programs in applied mathematics. It is interesting to observe that the first letters of each sentence in the Preface spell "Down With Computers And Their Lackeys." He served as president of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (1974-1976).SIAM Presidents http://www.siam.org/about/more/presidents.php Keller was a recipient of the Theodore von Kármán Prize of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics in 1994. Herbert was the younger brother of applied mathematician Joseph B. Keller. Joseph Keller was also a co-advisor for Herbert's PhD thesis. Keller was an avid bicyclist even at 82 years old. He died after his regular Saturday morning bike ride when he took a dip in a hot tub to relax his muscles, lost consciousness due to hyperthermia, and drowned.

References

External links

*
Herbert B. Keller
at the

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keller, Herbert 1925 births 2008 deaths 20th-century American mathematicians 21st-century American mathematicians Jewish American scientists Georgia Tech alumni California Institute of Technology faculty Computational fluid dynamicists Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences alumni New York University faculty Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Presidents of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics Scientific computing researchers 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American Jews Sarah Lawrence College faculty