Thom, Rene Frederic

▪ 2003

      French mathematical philosopher (b. Sept. 2, 1923, Montbéliard, France—d. Oct. 25, 2002, Bures-sur-Yvette, France), was awarded the Fields Medal in 1958 for his work in topology, notably for his introduction of the concept of cobordism for classifying differentiable manifolds. He was better known, however, for his development of catastrophe theory, which he introduced in 1972 to explain biological growth and differentiation—in particular, how slow, continuous growth may lead to a sudden (“catastrophic”) change in form. Catastrophe theory became something of a fad as others tried to apply the concept to different disciplines, such as sociology and economics. Thom graduated from the École Normale Superieure (later part of the Universities of Paris) in 1946, spent four years at the National Centre for Scientific Research, and received a Ph.D. from the University of Paris (1951). He later taught at the Universities of Grenoble (1953–54) and Strasbourg (1954–63) and was a professor at the Institute of Advanced Scientific Studies in Bures-sur-Yvette (1964–88). Thom wrote on topology, linguistics, philosophy, and theoretical biology, as well as catastrophe theory; his significant published works included Stabilité structurelle et morphogénèse (1972; Structural Stability and Morphogenesis, 1975) and Théorie catastrophes et biologie (1979). He was elected to the French Academy of Sciences and was made a knight in the Legion of Honour.

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▪ French mathematician

born September 2, 1923, Montbéliard, France

died October 25, 2002, Bures-sur-Yvette

      French mathematician who was awarded the Fields Medal in 1958 for his work in topology.

      Thom graduated from the École Normale Supérieure (now part of the Universities of Paris (Paris I–XIII, Universities of)) in 1946, spent four years at the nearby National Centre for Scientific Research, and in 1951 was awarded a doctorate by the University of Paris. He held appointments at the University of Grenoble (1953–54) and the University of Strasbourg (1954–63). In 1964 he became a professor at the Institute of Advanced Scientific Studies, Bures-sur-Yvette.

      Thom was awarded the Fields Medal at the International Congress of Mathematicians in Edinburgh in 1958 for his numerous important contributions in topology, particularly the introduction of the concept of cobordism. Cobordism is a tool for classifying differentiable manifolds (manifold). Two manifolds of dimension n are cobordant if there exists a manifold-with-boundary of dimension n + 1, whose boundary is their disjoint union. He is best known, however, for catastrophe theory, an attempt to model abrupt behavioral changes—such as the transition from liquid to gas or, in human events, from peace to war—with functions on surfaces that have folds and cusps. The mathematical insight was valuable, but the subject became controversial when some of Thom's friends and colleagues made rather extravagant claims on the applicability of catastrophe theory. In addition, it was realized that many of the associated ideas, under different terminology, had already been employed by applied mathematicians.

      Thom's publications include Stabilité structurelle et morphogénèse (1972; Structural Stability and Morphogenesis) and Théorie des catastrophes et biologie (1979; “Catastrophe Theory in Biology”).

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