E. T. Whittaker
Sir Edmund Taylor Whittaker FRS FRSE (24 October 1873 – 24 March 1956) was a British mathematician, physicist, and historian of science. Whittaker was a leading mathematical scholar of the early 20th century who contributed widely to applied mathematics and was renowned for his research in mathematical physics and numerical analysis, including the theory of special functions, along with his contributions to astronomy, celestial mechanics, the history of physics, and digital signal processing.
Edmund Whittaker
24 October 1873
24 March 1956 (aged 82)
English
Mary Ferguson Macnaghten Boyd
- Smith's Prize (1897)[1]
- FRS (1905)[2]
- FRSE (1912)[3]
- Gunning Prize (1929)[4]
- Sylvester Medal (1931)[4]
- De Morgan Medal (1935)[4]
- Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice (1935)[5]
- Copley Medal (1954)[4]
Among the most influential publications in Whittaker's bibliography, he authored several popular reference works in mathematics, physics, and the history of science, including A Course of Modern Analysis (better known as Whittaker and Watson), Analytical Dynamics of Particles and Rigid Bodies, and A History of the Theories of Aether and Electricity. Whittaker is also remembered for his role in the relativity priority dispute, as he credited Henri Poincaré and Hendrik Lorentz with developing special relativity in the second volume of his History, a dispute which has lasted several decades, though scientific consensus has remained with Einstein. Whittaker served as the Royal Astronomer of Ireland early in his career, a position he held from 1906 through 1912, before moving on to the chair of mathematics at the University of Edinburgh for the next three decades and, towards the end of his career, received the Copley Medal and was knighted. The School of Mathematics of the University of Edinburgh holds The Whittaker Colloquium, a yearly lecture, in his honour and the Edinburgh Mathematical Society promotes an outstanding young Scottish mathematician once every four years with the Sir Edmund Whittaker Memorial Prize, also given in his honour.
Life[edit]
Early life and education[edit]
Edmund Taylor Whittaker was born in Southport, in Lancashire, the son of Selina Septima (née Taylor) and John Whittaker.[3] He was described as an "extremely delicate child", necessitating his mother to home school him until he was 11 years old, when he was sent off to Manchester Grammar School.[8] Ernest Barker, a classmate of Whittaker's at the Grammar School with whom he shared the office of prefect, later recalled his personality: "He had a gay, lively, bubbling spirit: he was ready for every prank: he survives in my memory as a natural actor; and I think he could also, on occasion, produce a merry poem."[9] While at the school, Whittaker studied on the "classical side", devoting three-fifths of his time to Latin and Greek.[8] Whittaker struggled with the poetry and drama which was required by the upper school, and expressed gratitude for being allowed to leave these studies behind and specialise in mathematics.[8]
In December 1891 Whittaker received an entrance scholarship to Trinity College, Cambridge.[1][8] After completing his education at the Manchester Grammar School he went on to study mathematics and physics there from 1892 to 1895.[10] He entered Trinity College as a minor scholar in October 1892 to study mathematics.[11] Whittaker was the pupil of Andrew Russell Forsyth and George Howard Darwin while at Trinity College and received tutoring throughout his first two years.[12] With an interest more in applied than pure mathematics, Whittaker won the Sheepshanks Astronomical Exhibition in 1894 as an undergraduate.[12] He graduated as Second Wrangler in the Cambridge Tripos examination in 1895.[13] The Senior Wrangler that year was Thomas John I'Anson Bromwich and Whittaker tied John Hilton Grace for second, all three along with three other participants, including Bertram Hopkinson, went on to be elected Fellows of the Royal Society.[1] He also received the Tyson Medal for Mathematics and Astronomy in 1896.[14]
Career[edit]
Whittaker was a fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge from 1896 to 1906 when took on the role of Royal Astronomer of Ireland. He held this post in Dublin until 1912, when he was appointed chair of mathematics at the University of Edinburgh, a role he went on to hold for just over a third of a century. Throughout his career, he wrote papers on automorphic functions and special functions in pure mathematics as well as on electromagnetism, general relativity, numerical analysis and astronomy in applied mathematics and physics, and was also interested in topics in biography, history, philosophy and theology.[8] He also made several important innovations in Edinburgh that had a large impact on mathematical education and societies there.[15]
Philosophy[edit]
Whittaker's views on philosophy was analysed by James Robert McConnell for the Whittaker Memorial Volume of the Proceedings of the Edinburgh Mathematical Society.[35] McConnell noted that Whittaker's research into the connections between physics and philosophy were spread across approximately forty publications.[74] Whittaker's worldview was classified as neo-Cartesianism in the volume, a philosophy described as being "founded on the principle that the search for a universal science should be modelled on the procedure of physicomathematicians."[75] McConnell notes several of Whittaker's original contributions to René Descartes' philosophical system, but goes on to sum up the work by saying that while he admired Whittaker's attempt at the problem, he was not satisfied with the many transitions between mathematics, aesthetics, ethics. He stated that "If the transitions from mathematics to moral values are not firmly established, Whittaker's attempt does not succeed in remedying the defects of Descartes' solution."[76] Whittaker published work in several other areas of philosophy, including research on Eddington's principle, a conjecture by Arthur Eddington that all quantitative propositions in physics can be derived from qualitative assertions.[30] In addition to publishing Eddington's Fundamental Theory, Whittaker wrote two other books pertaining to Eddington's philosophy.[30] Whittaker also wrote at length about the impacts of then-recent discoveries in astronomy on religion and theology,[77] determinism and free will,[78] and natural theology.[79] In the conclusion of his article, McConnell sums up Whittaker's philosophic works as appearing as though it came from "that of the scholarly Christian layman".[79] On metaphysics, he goes on to note that there are few scholars who are competent in both physics and metaphysics and states that future work could benefit and draw inspiration from Whittaker's research in the area.[79]
Awards and honours[edit]
In 1931, Whittaker received the Sylvester Medal from the Royal Society for "his original contributions to both pure and applied mathematics".[80] He then received the De Morgan Medal from the London Mathematical Society in 1935, an award given once every three years for outstanding contributions to mathematics.[81] He received several honours in his 70s, including being knighted in 1945 by King George VI,[82] and in 1954, receiving the Royal Society's Copley Medal, its highest award, "for his distinguished contributions to both pure and applied mathematics and to theoretical physics".[18][83] In the opening remarks of the 1954 address of President Edgar Adrian to the Royal Society, Adrian announces Whittaker as that years Copley medallist saying he is probably the most well-known British mathematician at the time, due to "his numerous, varied and important contributions" as well as the offices he had held.[84] Noting contributions to nearly all fields of applied mathematics and then-recent contributions to pure mathematics, relativity, electromagnetism, and quantum mechanics, Adrian goes on to say that the "astonishing quantity and quality of his work is probably unparalleled in modern mathematics and it is most appropriate that the Royal Society should confer on Whittaker its most distinguished award."[84]
Whittaker also gave several distinguished lectures, some of which formed the base of books he would later write.[2] He held the Rouse Ball lectureship at Trinity College, Cambridge in 1926, the Bruce-Preller lectureship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1931, and the Selby lectureship at the University of Cardiff in 1933. He also held the Hitchcock professorship at the University of California in 1934, the Riddell lectureship at the University at Durham (Newcastle) in 1942, the Guthrie lectureship of the Royal Physical Society of Edinburgh in 1943, and the Donnellan lectureship at the Trinity College Dublin in 1946.[2] He gave the Tarner Lecture at Trinity College, Cambridge in 1947 and held the Larmor lectureship of the Royal Irish Academy and the Herbert Spencer lectureship at the University of Oxford, both in 1948.[2]