Eleanor Mollie Horadam facts for kids
Eleanor Mollie Horadam (born June 29, 1921, died May 5, 2002) was a smart mathematician from England and Australia. She was an expert in a special area of number theory called generalised integers.
Eleanor Horadam's Life Journey
Eleanor was born in a place called Dewsbury, in Yorkshire, England. She studied mathematics at Girton College, Cambridge.
During World War II, she worked for a company called Rolls-Royce. She helped check how strong jet engines were by doing something called stress-strain analysis. At the same time, she took evening classes in engineering at the University of London. She did very well, earning top honors.
In 1949, Eleanor moved all by herself to Australia. She became a teacher, called a lecturer, at the University of New England. There, she married another mathematician named Alwyn Horadam. They had three children.
Eleanor convinced the university to change its rules about maternity leave. This was very unusual for the time. Because of her efforts, she was able to keep her job as a lecturer after having children.
She earned a special advanced degree called a doctorate. In 1965, she became a senior lecturer. She retired in 1983. In 1995, the university honored her by naming her a fellow. Eleanor's daughter, Kathy Horadam, also grew up to become a mathematician.
Her Work in Mathematics
Eleanor Horadam's main research was about something called generalised integers. These are like regular whole numbers, but they are built from a special set of numbers called generalised prime numbers.
She also wrote a textbook for students. It was called Principles of mathematics for economists and was published in 1982 by the University of New England.
