Alexander Macfarlane: Difference between revisions
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During his life, Macfarlane played a prominent role in research and education. He was, at various times in his life, physics [[professor]] at the [[University of Texas at Austin|University of Texas]], professor of Advanced Electricity, and later of [[mathematical physics]], at [[Lehigh University]], and co-founder and president of the ''International Association for Promoting the Study of Quaternions and Allied Systems of Mathematics'' until his death. |
During his life, Macfarlane played a prominent role in research and education. He was, at various times in his life, physics [[professor]] at the [[University of Texas at Austin|University of Texas]], professor of Advanced Electricity, and later of [[mathematical physics]], at [[Lehigh University]], and co-founder and president of the ''International Association for Promoting the Study of Quaternions and Allied Systems of Mathematics'' until his death. |
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He was also the author of a popular [[1916]] collection of mathematical biographies (''Ten British Mathematicians''), a similar work on physicists (Ten British Physicists of the Nineteenth Century, 1919), and he compiled a [[bibliography]] on [[quaternion]]s in [[1904]]. Significantly, he invented |
He was also the author of a popular [[1916]] collection of mathematical biographies (''Ten British Mathematicians''), a similar work on physicists (Ten British Physicists of the Nineteenth Century, 1919), and he compiled a [[bibliography]] on [[quaternion]]s in [[1904]]. Significantly, he invented [[hyperbolic quaternion]]s, precursor to [[Minkowski space]]. |
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(He was imbued with [[hyperbolic geometry]] through his brother-in-law [[G. B. Halsted]] while they taught in Austin.) |
(He was imbued with [[hyperbolic geometry]] through his brother-in-law [[G. B. Halsted]] while they taught in Austin.) |
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He actively participated in several International Congresses of Mathematicians including the Paris meeting of [[1900]] where he described the [[unit ball#quadratic forms|counter-sphere]] in the [[topological ring]] of [[coquaternion]]s. |
He actively participated in several International Congresses of Mathematicians including the Paris meeting of [[1900]] where he described the [[unit ball#quadratic forms|counter-sphere]] in the [[topological ring]] of [[coquaternion]]s. |
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Revision as of 09:59, 6 February 2007
Alexander Macfarlane (Blairgowrie, Scotland, April 21 1851 – Chatham, Ontario, August 28, 1913) was a Scottish-Canadian logician, physicist, and mathematician.
During his life, Macfarlane played a prominent role in research and education. He was, at various times in his life, physics professor at the University of Texas, professor of Advanced Electricity, and later of mathematical physics, at Lehigh University, and co-founder and president of the International Association for Promoting the Study of Quaternions and Allied Systems of Mathematics until his death.
He was also the author of a popular 1916 collection of mathematical biographies (Ten British Mathematicians), a similar work on physicists (Ten British Physicists of the Nineteenth Century, 1919), and he compiled a bibliography on quaternions in 1904. Significantly, he invented hyperbolic quaternions, precursor to Minkowski space. (He was imbued with hyperbolic geometry through his brother-in-law G. B. Halsted while they taught in Austin.) He actively participated in several International Congresses of Mathematicians including the Paris meeting of 1900 where he described the counter-sphere in the topological ring of coquaternions.
He retired to Chatham, Ontario.
References
- Cargill Gilston Knott, Alexander MacFarlane (obituary), Nature, 25 September 1913.
- Alexander Macfarlane, Lectures on Ten British Mathematicians of the Nineteenth Century (editor's preface).
External links
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