Derek Thomas Whiteside

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Derek Thomas Whiteside (born July 23, 1932 in Blackpool , † April 22, 2008 in Wokingham ) was a British mathematician . He was considered a leading figure in the work of Isaac Newton and edited numerous previously unpublished manuscripts and mathematical writings of Newton.

Life

Whiteside came in 1932 in Blackpool, an English coastal town on the Irish Sea in the county of Lancashire , to the world. In his hometown, he attended grammar school and after graduating from school , he moved to the University of Bristol , which he left in 1954 with an excellent exam in French and Latin . Whiteside received his PhD from the University of Cambridge , his dissertation was published in 1961 under the title Patterns of Mathematical Thought in the Later Seventeenth Century, and still unique in its breadth and depth . From 1961 to 1963 he was a Research Fellow at the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) and then until 1972 Research Assistant in Cambridge. Between 1972 and 1976 he was assistant research director and from 1976 to 1987 university reader for the history of mathematics. After that he was professor emeritus for the history of mathematics and natural sciences until his retirement in 1999 .

Whiteside was with Ruth, geb. Robinson, married. His wife died in 1997.

Awards

In 1975 the British Academy accepted Whiteside as a member. In 1977 he was awarded the George Sarton Medal , the highly prestigious prize for the history of science from the History of Science Society (HSS) founded by George Sarton and Lawrence Joseph Henderson . In 1968 he received the first Koyré medal .

Works

  • Biography of John Collins , in Dictionary of Scientific Biography . New York 1970–1990.
  • The Mathematical Principles Underlying Newton's 'Principia Mathematica': Being the Ninth Gibson Lecture in the History of Mathematics Delivered Within the University of Glasgow on October 21, 1969, Hardcover, University of Glasgow, ISBN 0-85261-014-9
  • Published by: Newton, Isaac. The Mathematical Papers of Isaac Newton, 8 vols., Cambridge University Press, 1967-1981.

Web links

Footnotes

  1. ^ Bursill-Hall, Piers: "Professor DT Whiteside: Historian of mathematics whose prodigious work on Newton's papers astonished the scholarly world" , The Independent , May 3, 2008.
  2. ↑ Fleming, Craig: "Maths prof from Blackpool slums this" , The Blackpool Gazette , May 1, 2008
  3. ↑ Shapiro, Alan: "DT Whiteside" , The Guardian , May 5th 2008
personal data
SURNAME Whiteside, Derek Thomas
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British mathematician and university professor
DATE OF BIRTH July 23, 1932
PLACE OF BIRTH Blackpool , Lancashire , England
DATE OF DEATH April 22, 2008
Place of death Wokingham , Berkshire , England