J. J. Sylvester, Johns Hopkins and partitions. (English) Zbl 0669.01011
A century of mathematics in America, Pt. I, Hist. Math. 1, 21-40 (1989).
[For the entire collection see Zbl 0656.00001.]
In this article the author tries to show the importance of Sylvester’s contributions to partitions during his tenure at Johns Hopkins. A full account of his work on even partitions is not given; also some of the topics (for example those connected with Farey series) have been omitted. Some comments (Sections 7 and 8) have been made which perhaps illustrate how Sylvester’s ideas are still relevant in to-day’s research. A brief biography and a complete list of publications, if given, would have made this article more useful, especially because it comes under the series ‘A century of mathematics in America’. Of course, a reference to E. T. Bell’s book ‘Men of mathematics’ has been made for such details.
In this article the author tries to show the importance of Sylvester’s contributions to partitions during his tenure at Johns Hopkins. A full account of his work on even partitions is not given; also some of the topics (for example those connected with Farey series) have been omitted. Some comments (Sections 7 and 8) have been made which perhaps illustrate how Sylvester’s ideas are still relevant in to-day’s research. A brief biography and a complete list of publications, if given, would have made this article more useful, especially because it comes under the series ‘A century of mathematics in America’. Of course, a reference to E. T. Bell’s book ‘Men of mathematics’ has been made for such details.
Reviewer: T.Thrivikraman
MSC:
| 01A55 | History of mathematics in the 19th century |
| 01-02 | Research exposition (monographs, survey articles) pertaining to history and biography |
