James Hardy Wilkinson FRS (27 September 1919 – 5 October 1986) was a prominent figure in the field of

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

, a field at the boundary of

applied mathematics Applied mathematics is the application of mathematics, mathematical methods by different fields such as physics, engineering, medicine, biology, finance, business, computer science, and Industrial sector, industry. Thus, applied mathematics is a ...

and

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...

particularly useful to

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

and engineering.

Education

Born in

Strood Strood is a town in the unitary authority of Medway in Kent, South East England. Strood forms a conurbation with neighbouring towns Chatham, Kent, Chatham, Rochester, Kent, Rochester, Gillingham, Kent, Gillingham and Rainham, Kent, Rainham. It ...

, England, he won a Foundation Scholarship to Sir Joseph Williamson's Mathematical School in Rochester. He studied the

Cambridge Mathematical Tripos The Mathematical Tripos is the mathematics course that is taught in the Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge. Origin In its classical nineteenth-century form, the tripos was a distinctive written examination of undergraduate s ...

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

, where he graduated as

Senior Wrangler The Senior 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 achiev ...

Career

Taking up war work in 1940, he began working on ballistics but transferred to the National Physical Laboratory in 1946, where he worked with

Alan Turing Alan Mathison Turing (; 23 June 1912 – 7 June 1954) was an English mathematician, computer scientist, logician, cryptanalyst, philosopher and theoretical biologist. He was highly influential in the development of theoretical computer ...

on the

ACE An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or a club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the ...

computer project. Later, Wilkinson's interests took him into the numerical analysis field, where he discovered many significant

algorithm In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm () is a finite sequence of Rigour#Mathematics, mathematically rigorous instructions, typically used to solve a class of specific Computational problem, problems or to perform a computation. Algo ...

Awards and honours

Wilkinson received the

Turing Award The ACM A. M. Turing Award is an annual prize given by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) for contributions of lasting and major technical importance to computer science. It is generally recognized as the highest distinction in the fi ...

in 1970 "for his research in numerical analysis to facilitate the use of the high-speed digital computer, having received special recognition for his work in computations in linear algebra and 'backward' error analysis." In the same year, he also gave the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM)

John von Neumann John von Neumann ( ; ; December 28, 1903 – February 8, 1957) was a Hungarian and American mathematician, physicist, computer scientist and engineer. Von Neumann had perhaps the widest coverage of any mathematician of his time, in ...

Lecture. Wilkinson also received an

Honorary Doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

from

Heriot-Watt University Heriot-Watt University () is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1821 as the School of Arts of Edinburgh, the world's first mechanics' institute, and was subsequently granted university status by roya ...

in 1973. He was elected as a Distinguished Fellow of the

British Computer Society image:Maurice Vincent Wilkes 1980 (3).jpg, Sir Maurice Wilkes served as the first President of BCS in 1957. The British Computer Society (BCS), branded BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, since 2009, is a professional body and a learned ...

in 1974 for his pioneering work in computer science. The James H. Wilkinson Prize in Numerical Analysis and Scientific Computing, established in 1982 by SIAM, and J. H. Wilkinson Prize for Numerical Software, established in 1991, are named in his honour. In 1987, Wilkinson won the Chauvenet Prize of the

Mathematical Association of America The Mathematical Association of America (MAA) is a professional society that focuses on mathematics accessible at the undergraduate level. Members include university A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary edu ...

, for his paper "The Perfidious Polynomial".

Personal life

Wilkinson married Heather Ware in 1945. He died at home of a heart attack on 5 October 1986. His wife and their son survived him, a daughter having predeceased him.

Selected works

* (REAP) ** Reprinted from SIAM in 2023, ISBN 978-1-61197-751-6. * (AEP) * with Christian Reinsch: ''Handbook for Automatic Computation, Volume II, Linear Algebra'', Springer-Verlag, 1971 * ''The Perfidious Polynomial''. In: ''Studies in Numerical Analysis'', pp. 1–28, MAA Stud. Math., 24, Math. Assoc. America, Washington, DC, 1984

References

External links

*
"An interview with James H. Wilkinson", Conducted by J. C. Nash on 13 July, 1984
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilkinson, James H. 1919 births 1986 deaths 20th-century English mathematicians British computer scientists Turing Award laureates Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Fellows of the British Computer Society Fellows of the Royal Society People from Strood People educated at Sir Joseph Williamson's Mathematical School Senior Wranglers Numerical analysts Scientists of the National Physical Laboratory (United Kingdom)