Frances Cope facts for kids

Frances Cope, also known as Frances Thorndike, was an amazing American mathematician. She was born on August 19, 1902, and passed away on May 14, 1982. Frances was famous for her work on special types of math problems called "irregular differential equations." A cool diagram used in math, called the Thorndike nomogram, is named after her! It helps people understand something called the Poisson distribution.

Frances Cope's Journey in Math

Frances Cope was born Elizabeth Frances Thorndike in New York City. Her parents were Elizabeth Thorndike and Edward L. Thorndike. Her father was a well-known educational psychologist. He taught at Teachers College, Columbia University.

Frances went to school at Horace Mann School and Drum Hill High School. She then studied at Vassar College, graduating in 1922. She earned her master's degree in math from Columbia University in 1925. In 1926, she first shared a special two-dimensional diagram. This diagram helps explain the Poisson distribution and is now called the Thorndike nomogram, named after her.

Early Work and Marriage

Frances worked for a few years as an engineering assistant. She was at the American Telephone and Telegraph Company from 1922 to 1924 and again from 1925 to 1927. After that, she taught physics at Vassar from 1927 to 1928. In 1928, she became a fellow at Radcliffe College. There, she worked towards her Ph.D. and met another mathematician, Thomas Freeman Cope. They got married in 1929.

Doctoral Studies and Research

In 1930, Frances and her husband moved to Ohio. Her husband had a job at Marietta College. Two years later, Frances finished her doctorate at Radcliffe. She was a student of George David Birkhoff. Her Ph.D. work was about "formal solutions of irregular differential equations." These are complex math problems. Her published work from this time is still used and studied today. It is important in both math and physics.

Teaching Career

Frances taught math at Vassar again in 1935 and 1936. In 1937, the Copes moved to New York. She taught math at Queens College in 1941. Then she taught at Adelphi College from 1941 to 1943.

Frances Cope passed away in Montrose, New York.

Family Life

Frances and Thomas Cope had three children. They had one son and two daughters. Thomas lived for two years after Frances passed away.

See also

In Spanish: Frances Cope para niños