Zerah Colburn (mathematician)

Zerah Colburn (born September 1, 1804 in Cabot , † March 2, 1839 in Norwich ) was a mathematical prodigy of the 19th century, who became known for his achievements in mental arithmetic . In a competition he beat the mathematician William Rowan Hamilton .

Zerah Colburn as a child

Life

Colburn was born in Cabot, Vermont , in 1804 . When he already after a few weeks the school multiplication table reciting his father checked his math skills and found himself confirmed multiplied as Zerah 13 correctly with 97th

Zerah's skills developed quickly, so that after a short time he was able to calculate problems such as the number of seconds in 2,000 years, the product of 12,225 and 1,223, or the square root of 1,449. By the age of 12, after six seconds of thinking, he was able to calculate the number of hours in 38 years, two months and seven days.

He is said to have solved more complex problems in his head, including whether the sixth Fermat's number

${\displaystyle \mathbf {F_{5}} =2^{2^{5}}+1\qquad ({\text{Zählung beginnt bei }}\mathbf {F_{0}} )}$

a prime number is what he denied and called 641 as a factor of . However, it is possible that Zerah knew this from references, as Leonhard Euler had already recognized this in 1732 . ${\displaystyle \mathbf {F_{5}} }$

His father made financial use of his son's abilities by traveling with him through the states of the Midwest and parts of the southern states of the USA and showing Zerah performances of his mental arithmetic skills.

The two left Vermont in the winter of 1810-1811. During a stay in Hanover, New Hampshire , the then President of Dartmouth College , John Wheelock , offered to take over the promotion and financing of the further education of Zerah, but Zerah's father refused. In Boston, Zerah's abilities caused quite a stir, so that he was visited by professors from Harvard College and other distinguished representatives of various professions, and the newspapers were filled with articles about his numeracy skills.

After further stations, father and son sailed to England in January 1812, after which they traveled through England itself, Scotland and Ireland and finally spent 18 months in Paris , where Zerah was accepted into the Lycée Henri IV , from which his father took him briefly thereupon again removed, to finally return to England in 1816 completely impoverished.

There after a short time Frederick Hervey, then Earl of Bristol, became aware of Zerah and took him to the Westminster School , where he stayed until 1819. As a result of his father's refusal to adhere to certain requirements of the Earl, Zerah was expelled from school, whereupon his father advised him to study acting. Zerah followed this request and was tutored by Charles Kemble for a few months , but both Zerah and his mentor were convinced after the first public appearance that he was not suitable for the stage. Zerah then accepted a position as an assistant in a school and shortly afterwards opened his own school. He also carried out astronomical calculations for Thomas Young .

After his father's death in 1824, the Earl of Bristol and other friends funded his return to the United States. Although Zerah's education was rather unusual, he showed a talent for languages. In Fairfield (New York) he worked as an assistant teacher at an academy before moving to Burlington (Vermont) in March 1825 , where he taught French and at the same time continued his studies at the University of Vermont . Towards the end of 1825 he joined the Methodists , and finally, after nine years as an itinerant preacher, settled in Norwich, Vermont in 1835 . Shortly thereafter, he was appointed professor of languages ​​at Norwich University , which he remained until his death. He died of tuberculosis on March 2, 1839 .

family

His nephew of the same name was a recognized engineer for locomotives and a technical journalist.

literature

• Zerah Colburn: A memoir of Zerah Colburn; written by himself. Containing an account of the first discovery of his remarkable powers; his travels in America and residence in Europe; a history of the various plans devised for his patronage; his return to this country, and the causes which led him to his present profession; with his peculiar methods of calculation. Springfield: Marriam, 1833.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Colburn, Zerah. In: Dictionary of American Biography . Comprehensive Index. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York 1990
2. ↑ ^{a b c} The American Cyclopædia - Volume 5, pp.41f. . Retrieved November 4, 2013.
3. ↑ Jane Brown: The Story of Zerah Colburn, Child Math Wizard . Retrieved November 7, 2013.