Alfred Kempe
Alfred Bray Kempe (born July 6, 1849 in Kensington ; † April 21, 1922 in London ) was a British mathematician, his name is particularly associated with the history of the four-color theorem .
Kempe studied at Trinity College of Cambridge University , where among other things Arthur Cayley was one of his teachers. It graduated with honors in 1874 and then, despite its interest in mathematics, initially worked as a lawyer specializing in canon law.
In 1879 he published his (incorrect) proof of the four-color theorem, but it was believed to be correct for 11 years until in 1890 Percy Heawood discovered an error in it. Despite the error, however, the proof contained fundamental considerations and techniques (Kempe chains), which turned out to be important for the later correct proof by Kenneth Appel and Wolfgang Haken from 1976.
Kempe was elected to the Royal Society in 1881 and was President of the London Mathematical Society from 1892 to 1894 . The British polar explorer Robert Falcon Scott named Mount Kempe in Antarctica after him. In addition, the Kempe glacier adjacent to the mountain is indirectly named after him.
Web links
- John J. O'Connor, Edmund F. Robertson : Alfred Kempe. In: MacTutor History of Mathematics archive .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Kempe, Alfred |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Kempe, Alfred Bray (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British mathematician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 6, 1849 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Kensington |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 21, 1922 |
| Place of death | London |