George F. Carrier

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George Francis Carrier (born May 4, 1918 in Millinocket , Maine , † March 8, 2002 in Boston ) was an American mathematician and professor of applied mathematics at Harvard University . He was known for his ability to intuitively model a physical system and derive a mathematical solution from it. In particular, he worked on models of fluid dynamics , combustion processes and tsunamis .

Life

Carrier graduated with a Master of Engineering in 1939 and received his PhD from Cornell University in 1944 with James N. Goodier ( Investigations in the field of aelotropic elasticity and the bending of the sectorial plate ). As a post-doctoral student he was two years at Harvard University (Harvard Engineering School) and in 1946 he became an assistant professor at Brown University , where he became an associate professor in 1947 and a professor in 1948. There he sifted through the literature on supersonic flows on behalf of the US Air Force. In 1952 he became Gordon McKay Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Harvard University. In 1972 he became T. Jefferson Coolidge Professor of Applied Mathematics.

He has co-authored a number of mathematical textbooks and over 100 publications.

In 1990 he received the National Medal of Science , the highest scientific award in the United States, for his contributions to the natural sciences . In 1979 he received the Theodore von Kármán Prize .

He died on March 8, 2002 of esophageal cancer .

He was an associate editor of the Journal of Fluid Mechanics, the Quarterly of Applied Mathematics, and the SIAM Journal of Applied Mathematics. In 1953 Carrier was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences , 1967 to the National Academy of Sciences and 1976 to the American Philosophical Society .

Carriers rule

Carrier is known for " Carrier's rule ", a joking explanation why divergent asymptotic sequences often provide good approximations after just a few terms, whereas with convergent sequences one often needs many terms to get a good approximation: " Divergent sequences converge faster because they do not have to converge. "

Fonts

  • with Max Krook, Carl E. Pearson Functions of a complex variable. Theory and Technique , McGraw Hill 1966, SIAM 2005
  • with Carl E. Pearson Ordinary Differential Equations , Blaisdell 1968, SIAM 1991
  • with Carl E. Pearson Partial Differential Equations. Theory and Technique , Academic Press 1976, 1988
  • Aerodynamics of high speed , Dover 1951

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Mathematics Genealogy Project
  2. ^ National Science Foundation - The President's National Medal of Science
  3. ↑ Book of Members 1780 – present, Chapter C. (PDF; 1.3 MB) In: American Academy of Arts and Sciences (amacad.org). Accessed March 11, 2018 (English).
  4. ↑ JP Boyd, The Devil's Invention: Asymptotic, Superasymptotic and Hyperasymptotic Series , Acta Applicandae Mathematicae: An International Survey Journal on Applying Mathematics and Mathematical Applications 56 , 1-98 (1999) PDF of the preprint

swell

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Carrier, George F.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Carrier, George Francis (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American mathematician and physicist
DATE OF BIRTH May 4, 1918
PLACE OF BIRTH Millinocket (Maine)
DATE OF DEATH March 8, 2002
Place of death Boston