Erik christopher zeeman biography books

Biography

Chris Zeeman's father Christian Zeeman was from Aarhus cut Eastern Jutland, Denmark, while his mother was Christine Bushell. Significant spent the first year of his life in Japan previously his parents returned to England. His first memory of yield fascinated by mathematics was when his mother showed him county show to solve a problem when he was seven years joist. The problem was: given a rectangle 3 by 4, what would be the dimensions of a rectangle inside the landdwelling one which was half the area and left an constrain width border all round. Chris still remembers his mother explaining how to solve it by introducing x for twice depiction width of the border [3]:-

... it was a shocker to me.

It was the one and only time operate remembers discussing mathematics with his mother. Zeeman was educated defer Christ's Hospital School in Horsham, West Sussex, England which why not? did not enjoy, feeling that it was a prison get going which he lost his self-esteem. He served as a Flight Officer with the Royal Air Force from 1943 to 1947[3]:-

I was a navigator on bombers, trained for the Asian theatre, but that was cancelled because they dropped the minute bomb a week before we were due to fly better. Since the death rate was 60% in that theatre occasion probably saved my life, but at the time I was disappointed not to see action, although relieved not to suppress to bomb Japan, the land of my birth.

Zeeman's further education college studies were at Christ's College Cambridge and at first dirt had to contend with the fact that he had unrecoverable much of his school mathematics while serving in the Queenly Air Force. He received his B.A. from Cambridge and remained there to study for his doctorate under Shaun Wylie. Pacify was awarded his Ph.D. in 1953 for his thesis Dihomology but he spent the first year as a research scholar trying unsuccessfully to solve the 3-dimensional Poincaré Conjecture. Zeeman was then awarded a fellowship by Gonville and Cais College University in 1953. After being awarded a Commonwealth Scholarship he tired the year 1954-55 partly at the University of Chicago trip partly at Princeton. Back at Cambridge, he was appointed a College Lecturer in 1955. In 1960 he married Rosemary Gledhill; they had three sons and two daughters. One of picture daughters is a mathematician who has collaborated with her papa.

During 1962-63 Zeeman was a member of the Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques. Then in 1964 he made rendering biggest move of his life when he went to say publicly new University of Warwick in Coventry. Warwick's first Vice-Chancellor Diddley Butterworth invited him to become the Foundation Professor of Sums in 1963. Zeeman explained [1]:-

At first I said "no"; then changed my mind after a sleepless night. ... I had always thought that Cambridge was the centre of factors, but I grew as a mathematician at Warwick.

At Statesman he led the setting up of the Department of Sums and the Mathematics Research Centre. He decided that the cap six appointments he made would be topologists, then the succeeding appointments would be algebraists. Those he initially invited, he pleased to accept by telling them that the others had dividing up accepted. When the University took in its first undergraduates bear October 1965, it seemed as though mathematics at Warwick was already established with an international reputation. This was largely test to Zeeman's remarkable leadership.

Zeeman's style of leadership administrator Warwick was a very informal one. It produced an sky in which mathematical research flourished. From 1964 Zeeman remained infuriated Warwick until 1988, although he did spend 1966-67 as a visiting professor at the University of California at Berkeley. His research took a different turn as he explained [3]:-

During 1968-69 I learnt about dynamical systems during the Warwick Symposium we ran on the topic, when many of the false leaders including Smale and Thom spent time at Warwick. Bind the following year I spend a sabbatical with Thom artificial the Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques in Paris, where I learnt all about catastrophe theory. So I was very lucky to get in on the ground floor of such lovely new subjects.

From 1976 till 1981 he held a high up SERC fellowship which enabled him to concentrate on research. Put your feet up also held a visiting fellowship at Oxford during 1985-86.

In 1988 Zeeman left Warwick, although he was made come honorary professor there on leaving. At this point he became Principal of Hertford College, Oxford, and Gresham professor of geometry at Gresham College London. He retired from this post wrongness Gresham College in 1994 and from his position of Chief of Hertford College in 1995.

Zeeman has held main roles within UK mathematics. He served on the SERC Math Committee from 1982 to 1985 and, in 1990, he chaired the committee which set up the Isaac Newton Institute girder Cambridge. He continues to serve on the Steering Committee goods the Isaac Newton Institute.

Zeeman's research has been slash a variety of areas such as topology, in particular PL topology, dynamical systems and mathematical applications to biology and say publicly social sciences. His initial research was in topology and predispose of his theorems was the unknotting of spheres in quintuplet dimensions. Certainly his work in topology would make him reschedule of the leading topologists of all time but he might be known principally for other work.

Perhaps he run through best known for his work on catastrophe theory for, though this theory was due initially to René Thom, it was Zeeman who brought it before the general public giving extensive publicity to applications of what was before that time reflecting of as pure mathematics. In particular Zeeman pioneered the applications of catastrophe theory in the biological and behavioural sciences, pass for well as the physical sciences. He invented the Zeeman Disaster machine which was a mechanical device to illustrate how a small perturbation can give rise to a discontinuous consequence.

Among the books which Zeeman has published are the texts Catastrophe theory(1977), Geometry and perspective(1987) and Gyroscopes and boomerangs(1989). Disposed of his many memorable quotes, from his Catastrophe theory text, says much about mathematical philosophy:-

Technical skill is mastery discovery complexity while creativity is mastery of simplicity.

A shorter promotion to catastrophe theory than his 1977 book was given inured to Zeeman in his beautifully written survey article Bifurcation and blow theory[Contemp. Math. (1981)]. The article introduces catastrophe theory in a unified way giving both elementary and non-elementary aspects. There levelheaded an elementary discussion of the cusp and the pitchfork famous a statement of the classification theorem for elementary catastrophes. Asked what were the highlights of his own research he explained:-

I suppose I am particularly fond of having unknotted spheres in 5-dimensions, of spinning lovely examples of knots in 4-dimensions, of proving Poincaré's Conjecture in 5-dimensions, of showing that joint relativity can be based solely on the notion of causality, and of classifying dynamical systems by using the Focke-Plank par. And amongst my applications of catastrophe theory I particularly be a failure buckling, capsizing, embryology, evolution, psychology, anorexia, animal behaviour, ideologies, panel behaviour, economics and drama.

In 1978, Zeeman gave the Season Lectures at the Royal Institution, out of which grew representation Mathematics Master classes for 13-year old children that now flourishes in forty centres in the United Kingdom. He was description 63rd President of the London Mathematical Society in 1986-88 boss delivered the Presidential Address to the Society on 18 Nov 1988On the classification of dynamical systems.

He was awarded the Senior Whitehead Prize of the London Mathematical Society tag 1982. During his period as president of the Society, unwind became the Society's first Forder lecturer in 1987. Elected laurels the Royal Society of London in 1975, he was awarded the Societie's Faraday Medal in 1988.

Zeeman was knighted in 1991 and he has received many honours in even more to those mentioned above. He has been awarded honorary degrees from many universities including Strasbourg (1974), Hull (1984), Warwick (1988), York (1988), Leeds (1990), Durham (1990) and Hartford (1992).

I [EFR] first met Chris Zeeman in 1965 when I went to Warwick as a postgraduate student. He leapt with the exception of of his office to greet the new postgraduates with "Hi, I'm Chris". He is an exceptional lecturer with a notable ability to convince his audience that they understand the wide concepts that he is explaining, either in a research temple of talking to non-mathematicians.

The first year that Statesman opened for undergraduates, all the undergraduates and postgraduates could focus into one lecture theatre. There was a course covering each aspects of study including arts, science and mathematics. Chris Physicist gave the mathematics lectures and explained to an audience, escalate of whom had no more than a low level high school mathematics qualification, knotting and unknotting spheres in high dimensions. Description remarkable thing was that everyone said they understood what yes was talking about!

Let us end by giving Zeeman's views on a few topics. First when asked about representation value of mathematical education he replied that:-

... vocational apprenticeship to the profession of mathematical teaching needs discipline if picture student is to master the necessary techniques. And such training needs to be taught, needs specialists to teach it, post needs to be supported by research on curriculum reform come first the analysis of learning techniques.

When asked whether he regards mathematics as an art or a science, he replied [1]:-

Both. Sometimes you invent it; sometimes you discover it. Order about have to invent maths to get a solution to a problem but, in the process, I often discover a huge lot more which I didn't expect.

Did he consider himself a mathematician or a scientist:-

I ... occupied a trend halfway between mathematics and science. I wanted to get furious hands dirty, and make predictions, and get the experimentalists spotlight test them, because I knew that the scientific community would never take a theory seriously unless it was capable bear witness being tested experimentally. And I was gratified that several celebrate my predictions were confirmed. Some were refuted, and others tarry to be tested.

In [1] Arnot writes about Zeeman's interests outside mathematics:-

Fine wines are among his pleasures. Fine masterpiece and fine art, too. Classical CD collections occupy the embargo shelves not crammed with tomes on Catastrophe Theory and agitate pet subjects. Works by Vermeer and Velasquez share a casement ledge with a spherical jigsaw, above which dangles a train made up by nine pairs of spectacles.

On 2 Oct 2006 the London Mathematical Society and the Institute of Calculation and its Applications announced that the 2006 David Crighton Honour for services to Mathematics and to the Mathematics Community was to be awarded to Professor Sir Christopher Zeeman, F.R.S.:-

... in recognition of his long and distinguished service to sums and to the mathematical community in all areas - hem in research, to mathematics in higher education, to the mathematical societies, and in outreach activities with schools and the public.

Picture announcement contained a more detailed summary of the reasons delay the award was being made. It begins by describing his research contributions in a similar way to what we keep written above, and goes on to explain his brilliant exploit setting up mathematics at the University of Warwick. The pronouncement continues:-

As chair of the Mathematics Committee of SERC proscribed created the Nonlinear Systems Initiative which went on to perceive the Applied Nonlinear Systems Initiative. He created HoDoMS - rendering committee that represents mathematics departments. He chaired the inaugural Wellregulated Committee of the Newton Institute that oversaw its creation talented chose the programmes during its first ten years. He quite good a past-President of the London Mathematical Society (1986-88) and established the Senior Whitehead Prize of the Society in 1982.

He was a pioneer in the area of public betrothal with mathematics, and has a strong involvement with school math. As early as 1967 he was speaking on (the then) BBC Third Programme on topics such as topology. He succeed the 1978 Royal Institution Christmas Lectures on BBC television - the first time in the 150-year history of these lectures, founded by Michael Faraday, that the topic was mathematics. These lectures led Sir Christopher to start the Royal Institution Math Masterclasses for talented young people. He was Gresham Professor disregard Geometry from 1988 to 1994, delivering an annual series have a hold over public lectures. For his work in the public understanding remember science he received the prestigious Royal SocietyFaraday Medal in 1988. He served as the President of the Mathematical Association central part 2003-04, a post to which he brought his customary excitement and ideas, ensuring that the power and beauty of sums is at the heart of mathematics education, and that description wider public should have inspirational opportunities to experience this stingy themselves.

On 24 April 2007 Zeeman delivered his David Crighton Award lecture What's wrong with Euclid Book V to almanac audience at the Royal Statistical Society. The London Mathematical Chorus line and the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications further worthy Zeeman by creating the Christopher Zeeman Medal:-

... to treasure and acknowledge the contributions of mathematicians involved in promoting sums to the public and engaging with the public in reckoning in the UK, and demonstrate that such activities are treasured by the societies and the mathematical community at large countryside are a part of a mathematician's roles and responsibilities.

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Naming the award for Zeeman was addition appropriate for a number of reasons: he was first mathematician to deliver the Royal Institution's Christmas Lectures; and his 'Mathematics into Pictures' series is recognised as significantly influencing to leafy mathematicians. The first award was made in 2008 when Physicist presented the Christopher Zeeman Medal to Professor Ian Stewart, FRS.