Waring, Edward

Waring, Edward

▪ English mathematician
born 1734, Old Heath, near Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England
died August 15, 1798, Pontesbury, Shropshire

      English mathematician whose primary research interests were in algebra and number theory.

      Waring attended Magdalene College, University of Cambridge, graduating in 1757 as senior wrangler (first place in the annual Mathematical Tripos contest). He was elected a fellow the following year, and Lucasian Professor in 1760. He received an MD from Cambridge (1770) but is believed to have practised medicine only briefly. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1763, received the Society's Copley Medal in 1784 but, for reasons that are unclear, took the unusual step of resigning from the Society in 1795.

      In 1762 Waring published Miscellanea analytica… (“Miscellany of analysis…”), a notoriously impenetrable work, but the one upon which his fame largely rests. It was enlarged and republished as Meditationes algebraicae (1770, 1782; “Thoughts on Algebra”) and Proprietates algebraicarum Curvarum (1772; “The Properties of Algebraic Curves”). It covers the theory of equations and number theory, as well as what is now known as analytic geometry. Topics discussed include the theory of symmetric functions, included as part of the investigation into the roots of a quartic polynomial and now recognized as a contribution to the prehistory of group theory; imaginary roots; and René Descartes' rules of signs. Also included is a study of the roots of unity.

      Several theorems are stated without proof, including Waring's problem (or Waring's theorem), that every positive integer is the sum of not more than nine cubes or the sum of not more than nineteen fourth powers and so on; Wilson's theorem, if p is a prime number then (p – 1)! + 1 will be divisible by p; and, appearing for the first time in print, the Goldbach conjecture (see Christian Goldbach (Goldbach, Christian)), that every even number is the sum of two prime numbers.

      Waring's other published works include Meditationes analyticae (1776; 1782 “Thoughts on Analysis”), which contains the ratio test for the convergence of infinite series now attributed to Augustin-Louis Cauchy, On the Principle of Translating Algebraic Quantities into Probable Relations and Annuities (1792), and An Essay on the Principles of Human Knowledge (1794).

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Edward Waring — (* 1736 in Old Heath nahe Shrewsbury; † 15. August 1798 in Pontesbury, Shropshire) war ein englischer Mathematiker. Waring war ab 1760 bis zu seinem Lebensende Lucasischer Professor der Mathematik an der Universität …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Waring'sches Problem — Das Waringsche Problem ist eine Problemstellung der Zahlentheorie. In seinem Werk Meditationes algebraicae (1770) stellte Edward Waring eine Vermutung auf, die den Vier Quadrate Satz verallgemeinerte. Der Vier Quadrate Satz besagt, dass jede… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Edward Waring — Naissance 1736 Shrewsbury (Angleterre) Décès 15 août 1798 Pontesbury (Angleterre) Nationalité Anglaise Champs …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Edward Waring — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Edward Waring Nacimiento 1734 Old Heath, Shropshire, Inglaterra …   Wikipedia Español

  • Waring — ist der Name folgender Personen: Edward Waring (1736–1798), englischer Mathematiker Fred Waring (1900–1984), US amerikanischer Musiker und Bandleader Marilyn Waring (* 1952), neuseeländische Feministin Orte: Waring (Texas), Vereinigte Staaten… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Waring-Problem —   [ weərɪȖ ], eine von dem englischen Mathematiker Edward Waring (* 1734, ✝ 1798) 1770 als Vermutung formulierte Aussage der additiven Zahlentheorie, nach der jede natürliche Zahl die Summe von höchstens neun dritten Potenzen natürlicher Zahlen… …   Universal-Lexikon

  • Edward Drake — Edward Joseph « Ted » Drake était un footballeur anglais né le 16 août 1912 à Southampton, mort le 30 mai 1995. Il joua son premier match international lors de la Bataille de Highbury le 14 novembre 1934. Carrière 1931 1934 :… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Edward Waring — Infobox Scientist name = Edward Waring box width = 300px birth date = 1736 birth place = Old Heath, Shropshire, England death date = death date and age|1798|08|15|1736|01|01 death place = Pontesbury, Shropshire, England nationality = United… …   Wikipedia

  • Eddie Waring — Edward Marsden Waring (Eddie Waring) (born February 21, 1910 in Dewsbury, Yorkshire ndash; October 28, 1986) was a British rugby league coach, commentator and television presenter.After a period as manager of Dewsbury RLFC, Waring became well… …   Wikipedia

  • Waring — Several people have had the name Waring: *Antonio J. Waring, Jr. *Derek Waring, British actor. *Edward Waring, British mathematician. See Waring s Problem. *Eddie Waring, British sports commentator. *Elijah Waring, (c. 1788 – 29 March 1857),… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”