250px George Ballard Mathews, FRS (23 February 1861 – 19 March 1922) was an English

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 ...

. He was born in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. He studied at the

Ludlow Grammar School Ludlow () is a market town in Shropshire, England. The town is significant in the history of the Welsh Marches and in relation to Wales. It is located south of Shrewsbury and north of Hereford, on the A49 road which bypasses the town. The ...

which had instruction in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

and

Sanscrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the lat ...

as well as in

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

and

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

. He proceeded to

University College, London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = � ...

where

Olaus Henrici Olaus Magnus Friedrich Erdmann Henrici, FRS (9 March 1840, Meldorf, Duchy of Holstein – 10 August 1918, Chandler's Ford, Hampshire, England) was a German mathematician who became a professor in London. After three years as an apprentice in en ...

made him "realise that mathematics is an inductive science, not a set of rules and formulae." He then took up preparation for

Cambridge Mathematical Tripos The Mathematical Tripos is the mathematics course that is taught in the Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge. It is the oldest Tripos examined at the University. Origin In its classical nineteenth-century form, the tripos was ...

under the guidance of

William Henry Besant William Henry Besant (1 November 1828 – 2 June 1917) was a British mathematician, brother of novelist Walter Besant. Another brother, Frank, was the husband of Annie Besant. Parentage William was born in Portsea, Portsmouth on 1 November 18 ...

. He came out

Senior Wrangler The Senior Frog Wrangler is the top mathematics undergraduate at the University of Cambridge in England, a position which has been described as "the greatest intellectual achievement attainable in Britain." Specifically, it is the person who a ...

for 1883. He was elected a Fellow of St John's College. In 1884

University College of North Wales , former_names = University College of North Wales (1884–1996) University of Wales, Bangor (1996–2007) , image = File:Arms_of_Bangor_University.svg , image_size = 250px , caption = Arms ...

was established under Principal Harry Reichel and Mathews as professor of mathematics. He taught alongside Andrew Gray,

James Johnston Dobbie Sir James Johnston Dobbie, FRS FRSE FIC FCS (4 August 1852 – 19 June 1924) was known for the isolation, chemical structure, and physical properties (especially UV and visible spectra) of alkaloids. He isolated hydroxycodeine from opium and syn ...

and

Henry Stuart Jones Sir Henry Stuart Jones, FBA (15 May 1867 – 29 June 1939) was a British academic. He was educated at Balliol College, Oxford; he obtained a First in Classical Moderations in 1888 and a First in Literae Humaniores ('Greats', a combination of ...

. There he produced his first

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 textbook ...

''Theory of Numbers. Part I'' (1892), an introduction to

number theory Number theory (or arithmetic or higher arithmetic in older usage) is a branch of pure mathematics devoted primarily to the study of the integers and integer-valued functions. German mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777–1855) said, "Mat ...

. (It is likely that the book was studied by Ramanujan before he left for England in 1914.) In 1896, discouraged at the preparation and dedication of students, Mathews resigned and moved to Cambridge. Mathews was elected 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 1897. He worked as University Lecturer at

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

. In 1906 he resigned from Cambridge. Returning to

Bangor, Wales Bangor (; ) is a cathedral city and community in Gwynedd, North Wales. It is the oldest city in Wales. Historically part of Caernarfonshire, it had a population of 18,322 in 2019, according to the Office for National Statistics. Landmarks ...

, he again took up teaching at University College of North Wales. He produced his book ''Algebraic Equations'' in 1907. His book on

projective geometry In mathematics, projective geometry is the study of geometric properties that are invariant with respect to projective transformations. This means that, compared to elementary Euclidean geometry, projective geometry has a different setting, ...

(1914) is noted for its attention to foundations and its exposition of

Karl von Staudt Karl Georg Christian von Staudt (24 January 1798 – 1 June 1867) was a German mathematician who used synthetic geometry to provide a foundation for arithmetic. Life and influence Karl was born in the Free Imperial City of Rothenburg, which is n ...

’s approach to

imaginary unit The imaginary unit or unit imaginary number () is a solution to the quadratic equation x^2+1=0. Although there is no real number with this property, can be used to extend the real numbers to what are called complex numbers, using addition an ...

s. In 1915

Glasgow University , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

bestowed an honorary L.L.D. upon him. In 1922 he and Andrew Gray published a book on

Bessel's function Bessel functions, first defined by the mathematician Daniel Bernoulli and then generalized by Friedrich Bessel, are canonical solutions of Bessel's differential equation x^2 \frac + x \frac + \left(x^2 - \alpha^2 \right)y = 0 for an arbitrary ...

s. Mathews was weakened by poor

nutrition Nutrition is the biochemical and physiological process by which an organism uses food to support its life. It provides organisms with nutrients, which can be metabolized to create energy and chemical structures. Failure to obtain sufficient ...

under the rationing due to

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He had surgery in 1919, a seizure in 1921, and never recovered. Describing his friend, Andrew Gray wrote that Mathews was "a classical scholar and deeply interested in philosophical questions of all kinds...His mind was keen and tongue sharp." Gray also noted that Mathews was "exceedingly sensitive, and almost morbidly afraid of appearing to put himself forward in any way, so that he hardly received the recognition that was due him." Mathews authored a large number of

book review __NOTOC__ A book review is a form of literary criticism in which a book is merely described (summary review) or analyzed based on content, style, and merit. A book review may be a primary source, opinion piece, summary review or scholarly revie ...

s for the scientific journal

Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...

. These short essays gave him ample opportunity for expression. For example, under the title "Mathematics and Civilisation", reviewing three German monographs, he wrote, "history of culture...change of habits of thought...nothing whatever has contributed so much as the study of pure mathematics." He cites author A. Voss asserting that "mathematics is pre-eminently a creation of the spirit of man; it is his least restricted field of activity, and we are under a moral obligation to cultivate it." In a review in 1916 he predicted World War II: :England's contempt for science, which all who know have been protesting for a generation, will, if not amended, bring her down in sorrow to the ground, ''whatever the issue of the present war'', which will be followed by one of much greater intensity, for which the weapons will be forged, not by hands, or machines, but by brains.

References

* Andrew Gray (1922) "George Ballard Mathews",

Mathematical Gazette ''The Mathematical Gazette'' is an academic journal of mathematics education, published three times yearly, that publishes "articles about the teaching and learning of mathematics with a focus on the 15–20 age range and expositions of attractive ...

11:133–5. * *

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mathews, George Ballard 1861 births 1922 deaths Mathematicians from London Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge 19th-century English mathematicians 20th-century English mathematicians Fellows of the Royal Society Number theorists Senior Wranglers