Aldridge Bousfield facts for kids

Aldridge Knight Bousfield (who people called "Pete") was an American mathematician. He was born on April 5, 1941, and passed away on October 4, 2020. He was famous for his important work in a special area of math called algebraic topology, especially for something known as Bousfield localization.

Pete Bousfield's Life and Work

Pete Bousfield was a very dedicated student. He earned both his first college degree and his highest degree, called a doctorate, from the famous Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.). He finished his doctorate in 1966. His main teacher and guide for his doctorate was a mathematician named Daniel Kan.

After finishing his studies, Pete started teaching. He worked as a lecturer and then an assistant professor at Brandeis University. Later, in 1972, he moved to the University of Illinois at Chicago. He taught mathematics there for many years until he retired in 2000.

In 1968, Pete married Marie Vastersavendts. She was also a mathematician, and she came from Belgium. Marie worked with numbers and populations for the city of Chicago. She passed away in 2016.

His Research in Math

Pete Bousfield specialized in a part of algebraic topology called homotopy theory. This area of math helps us understand shapes and spaces by looking at how they can be continuously changed into one another.

Some important ideas in this field are named after him:

• The Bousfield-Kan spectral sequence
• The Bousfield localization of spectra and model categories
• The Bousfield-Friedlander model structure

These ideas were developed with his colleagues, Daniel Kan and Eric Friedlander. They are important tools that mathematicians use to study complex shapes and structures.

Awards and Recognition

Pete Bousfield's contributions to mathematics were recognized by others. In 2018, he was named a fellow of the American Mathematical Society. This honor was given to him for his important work in homotopy theory and for how well he explained complex math ideas.