Andrew Forsyth
Encyclopedia
Andrew Russell Forsyth was a Scottish
mathematician.
Andrew Forsyth studied at Liverpool College and was tutored by Richard Pendlebury
before entering Trinity College, Cambridge
, graduating senior wrangler in 1881. He was elected a fellow of Trinity and then appointed to the chair of mathematics at the University of Liverpool
at the age of 24. He returned to Cambridge as a lecturer in 1884 and became Sadleirian Professor of Pure Mathematics in 1895.
Forsyth was forced to resign his chair in 1910 as a result of a scandal caused by his affair with Marion Amelia Boys, née Pollock, the wife of physicist C. V. Boys, who had been granted a divorce on the grounds of Marion's adultery with Forsyth. Marion and Andrew Forsyth were later married.
Forsyth became professor at the Imperial College of Science in 1913 and retired in 1923, remaining mathematically active into his seventies. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1886 and won its Royal Medal
in 1897.
He is now remembered much more as an author of treatises, than as an original researcher. His books have, however, often been criticized (for example by J. E. Littlewood, in his Mathematician's Miscellany). E. T. Whittaker
was his only official student, according to the Mathematical Genealogy site.
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
mathematician.
Andrew Forsyth studied at Liverpool College and was tutored by Richard Pendlebury
Richard Pendlebury
Richard Pendlebury was a British mathematician, musician and bibliophile.He went up to St John's College, Cambridge in 1866 and graduated senior wrangler in 1870: he was then elected to a college fellowship. He was appointed University Lecturer in Mathematics in 1888...
before entering Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...
, graduating senior wrangler in 1881. He was elected a fellow of Trinity and then appointed to the chair of mathematics at the University of Liverpool
University of Liverpool
The University of Liverpool is a teaching and research university in the city of Liverpool, England. It is a member of the Russell Group of large research-intensive universities and the N8 Group for research collaboration. Founded in 1881 , it is also one of the six original "red brick" civic...
at the age of 24. He returned to Cambridge as a lecturer in 1884 and became Sadleirian Professor of Pure Mathematics in 1895.
Forsyth was forced to resign his chair in 1910 as a result of a scandal caused by his affair with Marion Amelia Boys, née Pollock, the wife of physicist C. V. Boys, who had been granted a divorce on the grounds of Marion's adultery with Forsyth. Marion and Andrew Forsyth were later married.
Forsyth became professor at the Imperial College of Science in 1913 and retired in 1923, remaining mathematically active into his seventies. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1886 and won its Royal Medal
Royal Medal
The Royal Medal, also known as The Queen's Medal, is a silver-gilt medal awarded each year by the Royal Society, two for "the most important contributions to the advancement of natural knowledge" and one for "distinguished contributions in the applied sciences" made within the Commonwealth of...
in 1897.
He is now remembered much more as an author of treatises, than as an original researcher. His books have, however, often been criticized (for example by J. E. Littlewood, in his Mathematician's Miscellany). E. T. Whittaker
E. T. Whittaker
Edmund Taylor Whittaker FRS FRSE was an English mathematician who contributed widely to applied mathematics, mathematical physics and the theory of special functions. He had a particular interest in numerical analysis, but also worked on celestial mechanics and the history of physics...
was his only official student, according to the Mathematical Genealogy site.
Works
- A Treatise on Differential Equations (1885)
- Theory of Functions of a Complex Variable (1893)
- Geodesics on an oblate spheroid(1895-96)
- Theory of Differential Equations (1890-1906) six volumes
- Lectures on the Differential Geometry of Curves and Surfaces (1912)
- Lectures Introductory to the Theory of Functions of Two Complex Variables(1914)
- Calculus of Variations (1927)
- Geometry of Four Dimensions (1930)
- Intrinsic Geometry of Ideal Space (1935)