The biography of alicia boole stott

Quick Info

Biography

Mary was exclusive in Gloucester, England, the girl of the Rev Thomas Roupell Everest (), Minister of Wickwar. Her uncle, George Everest () was a surveyor, carrying dispense a major trigonometric survey come within earshot of India, and in his honesty the Royal Geographical Society entitled Mount Everest in Mary clapped out her youth in France pivot she had a mathematical upbringing and essentially spoke French type a first language.

She requited to England where she intentional mathematics on her own. Moniker George Boole became her master and, following the death look up to her father, they married refurbish and went to live conduct yourself Castle Road, near Cork, Eire. George and Mary Boole difficult five daughters, Mary Ellen Mathematician () who married the mathematician Charles Howard Hinton (), Margaret Boole () who married Prince Taylor and was the of Geoffrey Ingram Taylor, Alicia Boole the subject of that biography known to her attendance as Alice, Lucy Everest Mathematician () who became a pharmacist and the first woman drawback be elected a fellow sponsor the Institute of Chemistry, celebrated Ethel Lilian Boole () who became an author.

Let ambition note the surprising fact ramble Charles Howard Hinton, who swayed a part in Alicia's exact education which we describe farther down, was convicted of bigamy name he married Maud Florence consider it

George Boole died when climax daughter Alicia was only connect years old and, unable necessitate support herself without a groom, his widow Mary left Hibernia with four of her cinque daughters to live in Writer.

There she took a just starting out as a librarian at Queen's College, the first women's faculty in England, but also hand-me-down her knowledge of mathematics mushroom teaching methods to act significance an unofficial tutor to excellence students. However, she left Alicia in Cork to live affair her maternal grandmother.

Alicia she was brought up partly by virtue of her grandmother, partly by mix great-uncle, but these were adulthood when she felt repressed person in charge unhappy. When she was squad years old she went obtain London where she joined an extra mother and sisters. However, nobility family were living in rigid circumstances in a crowded give you an idea about.

Coxeter writes [1]:-

depiction five girls were reunited joint their mother (whose books expose her as one of say publicly pioneers of modern pedagogy) coach in a poor, dark, dirty, give orders to uncomfortable lodging in London.

When Alicia was sixteen, in , she joint to Cork for a tiny while where she worked awarding a children's hospital. However, stern a short spell, she shared to London to live clip her mother.

Although Alicia had no formal education, she was taught by her glaze Mary. This was no likely education for Mary had safe own ideas about teaching divide general and about teaching science in particular.

Coxeter writes [1]:-

There was no possibility fence education in the ordinary think logically, but Mrs Boole's friendship touch upon James Hinton attracted to glory house a continual stream accomplish social crusaders and cranks.

She wrote several books which were published much later but she certainly had the ideas rent them when unofficially tutoring on tap Queen's College. Examples of these books are (i) Logic Outright By Love(), (ii)Lectures on authority Logic of Arithmetic(), (iii)The inattentively of the child for science(), and (iv)Philosophy and the badinage of algebra ().

Here try some quotes which are influential to Alicia's education. the chief quote is from (ii) grandeur rest are from (iii):-

Anything which the teacher intends skill prove should never be stated; children should be led reminder to find it out good spirits themselves by successive questions.

The geometric education may on as soon as the child's hands can grasp objects.

Rift him have, among his toys, the five regular solids celebrated a cut cone.

On account of soon as the hands stool hold steadily compasses and set-square the child should be pleased both in copying diagrams highest in inventing others for myself. It is desirable that, in advance any systematic teaching of science begins, the compass, set-square, gift ruler marked in fractions be fond of an inch should be thanks to familiar implements as the branching and spoon.

Between righteousness time when a child handles an actual cube, cuts sections etc., and the time conj at the time that he comes, among his noticeable geometrical exercises, to problems requiring him to draw the swelling of a cube cut layer some particular way, there not bad a period when he finds it useful, and very charming, to go through a non-negotiable of processes in imagination good turn to express them in sovereignty own words.

At this time Hinton was thinking about the concept What is the fourth dimension? which he published in Alicia Boole experimented with the cubes and soon developed an astounding feel for four dimensional geometry. She introduced the word 'polytope' to describe a four dimensional convex solid. Coxeter writes [1]:-

[James] Hinton's son Howard, on one\'s knees a lot of small timber cubes, and set the youngest three girls the task break into memorising the arbitrary list take possession of Latin words by which why not?

named them, and piling them into shapes. To Ethel, endure possibly Lucy too, this was a meaningless bore; but paramount inspired Alice (at the swindle of about eighteen) to effect extraordinarily intimate grasp of 4-dimensional geometry.

She found that relating to were exactly six regular polytopes on four dimensions and prowl they are bounded by 5, 16 or tetrahedra, 8 cubes, 24 octahedra or dodecahedra.

She then produced three-dimensional central cross-sections of all the six routine polytopes by purely Euclidean constructions and synthetic methods for description simple reason that she challenging never learned any analytic geometry. She made beautiful cardboard models of all these sections.

By the time this publication was published, Hinton had touched with Mary Ellen to Archipelago following his conviction for bigamy. Let us quote at that point a description by Geoffrey Taylor of how Alicia revealed the six regular polytopes limitation four dimensions (see [9]):-

Alice's method of discovery was as a rule that of an amateur.

She started by noticing that efficient corner in a regular 4-dimensional figure bounded by tetrahedra, expend instance, can only have either 4, 8 or 20 be unable to find them meeting at a flashy because a section of authentic space close to the go bankrupt in a symmetrical position could only be a tetrahedron, double-cross octahedron, or an icosahedron.

She then traced, using only Euclid's construction, the progress of integrity section as the four-dimensional derive passed through our three-dimensional time taken. In this way Alice, employing only Euclid's constructions, produced sections of all the six routine polytopes.

However, life was work up a sweat and she "led a selfpossessed of drudgery, rearing her fold up children on a very diminutive income". Through her husband, Stott learned of Pieter Hendrik Schoute's work on central sections sell the regular polytopes in snowball Alicia Stott sent him photographs of her cardboard models. Schoute was amazed to see Stott's models and immediately proposed get-together her in England.

He came to England for his summertime holidays over the next loss of consciousness years and stayed with Stott at the home of disallow maternal cousin in Hever. Schoute worked with Alicia Stott give reasons for almost 20 years, persuading give someone the cold shoulder to publish her results which she did in two registry published in Amsterdam.

These funding On certain series of sections of the regular four-dimensional hypersolids() and Geometrical deduction of semiregular from regular polytopes and luggage compartment fillings(). She also wrote triad papers jointly with Schoute, that is to say On Models of 3-dimensional sections of regular hypersolids in margin of 4 dimensions(), On high-mindedness sections of a block register eight-cells by a space rotatory about a plane(), and Over wederkeerigheid in verband met halfregelmatige polytopen en netten().

Alicia Stott made two further important discoveries relating to constructions for polyhedra related to the golden disintegrate. She did not stop exploitable at this point for exceptional letter she wrote to Geoffrey Taylor in described, very directly, her continuing work (see [8]):-

I have not organize anything more interesting than sullying very shabby floors and specified like homehold things for depleted time; but last night Beside oneself received by post a M.S.

of 70 very closely inscribed pages containing an analytical twin of my last geometrical monograph. Of course I must subject it. It is the next attempt and was only destined because I did not love the first but I vehicle such a duffer at doubtful work anyhow that I don't suppose I shall like that very much better.

However, the Installation of Groningen honoured her afford inviting her to attend nobleness tercentenary celebrations of the institute and awarding her an nominal doctorate on 1 July She was proposed for the degree by Johan Antony Barrau () who was appointed to be successful Schoute at Groningen. Having problem her papers he wrote (see [8]):-

From these papers, lone infers a very special esteem for seeing the position lecture forms in a space senior four dimensions.

Three of these papers are written jointly be more exciting late Professor Dr P Spin Schoute connected during so haunt years to the University be required of Groningen; And this fruitful teamwork with the professor that she lost, is the reason compel the Faculty of Mathematics be first Physics to propose Mrs Natty Boole Stott for the degree honoris causa in Mathematics delighted Physics, to confer on depiction occasion of the coming special commemoration of the th sumptuously of the University.

However, for divers reason that remains unclear, she did not travel to Groningen and the degree was awarded 'in absentia'.

In turn she was introduced to Coxeter and they worked together point of view various problems [2]:-

Coxeter's league with Aunt Alice was first-class great source of joy. "The strength and simplicity of inclusion character," he said, "combined fretfulness the diversity of her interests to make her an exalting friend." They conducted an unending conversation about polytopes, by memo and with visits back plus forth.

When Coxeter's turn came up for preference session at Baker's tea original, he invited his "Aunt Alice" to deliver a joint speech.

When Aunt Alice made reject appearance as Coxeter's guest fob watch Baker's tea party, she overpowered her models and donated them to the department for preset exhibit.

When Coxeter left England not far from take up a post dull Toronto in he received shipshape and bristol fashion present from Stott in probity form of an antique stained-glass Archimedian solid lampshade. She wrote him a letter saying (see [2]):-

My dear! I don't know how to write subsidy you - words seem tolerable futile beside so great practised separation!

But indeed one throng together rejoice, for your sake, consider it it happened so While Frantic have been writing my acquiesce has gone back to picture lovely world we have visited together, and which you have to one`s name made so much your specific. I wonder where you option get to in it! Extent I wish I could follow.

He showed me models of her polytopes but I am unsure momentous if these were models she had made or whether they were models he had compelled in the same form introduce Stott.

1. H S M Coxeter, Regular polytopes(London, ).
2. S Roberts, King mock infinite space: Donald Coxeter, high-mindedness man who saved geometry(House remind you of Anansi Press, Totonto, ).
3. H Ruthless M Coxeter, Alicia Boole Stott (), in L S Grinstein and P J Campbell (eds.), Women of Mathematics (Westport, Conn., ),
4. L R Grosslein, Alicia Boole Stott, in Charlene On the way out and Teri Perl (Eds.), Moving Women in Mathematics: A Gain Dictionary(Greenwood Press, ),
5. K Course A Michalowicz, Mary Everest Mathematician (): An Erstwhile Pedagogist funds Contemporary Times, in R Callinger (ed.), Vita Mathematica: Historical Digging and Integration with Teaching (Cambridge University Press, ),
6. D McHale, Alicia Boole Stott, in George Boole: his life and work(Dublin, ),
7. T Phillips, The Prince of Polytopia: Alicia Boole Stott and the cell, Monthly essays on mathematical topics(American Mathematical Speak in unison, ).
8. I Polo-Blanco, Alicia Boole Stott and four-dimensional polytopes, in Theory and History of Geometric Models(Ph.D.

   thesis, ).

9. I Polo-Blanco, Alicia Mathematician Stott, a geometer in finer dimension, Historia Mathematica35(2)()
10. I Polo-Blanco celebrated J Gonzalez-Sanchez, A historical appeal to understanding four-dimensional polytopes homemade on Boole Stott's work.
11. I Polo-Blanco and J Gonzalez-Sanchez, Four-dimensional polytopes: Alicia Boole Stott's algorithm, The Mathematical Intelligencer32(3)(),

Additional Resources (show)

Written by J J Writer and E F Robertson
Determined Update July