Harry Bateman facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Harry Bateman
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1931 drawing of Harry Bateman
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| Born | 29 May 1882 Manchester, England
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| Died | 21 January 1946 (aged 63) Pasadena, California, U.S.
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| Education | Trinity College, Cambridge (BA, MA) Johns Hopkins University (PhD) |
| Known for | Bateman Manuscript Project Bateman–Burgers equation Bateman equation Bateman function Bateman polynomials Bateman transform |
| Awards | Senior Wrangler (1903) Smith's Prize (1905) Gibbs Lecture (1943) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Geometrical optics Partial differential equations Fluid dynamics Electromagnetism |
| Institutions | Bryn Mawr College Johns Hopkins University California Institute of Technology |
| Thesis | The Quartic Curve and Its Inscribed Configurations (1913) |
| Doctoral advisor | Frank Morley |
| Doctoral students | Clifford Truesdell Howard P. Robertson Albert George Wilson |
Harry Bateman (born May 29, 1882 – died January 21, 1946) was a smart English mathematician. He was especially good at solving differential equations. These are special math problems used in mathematical physics to describe how things change.
With another scientist, Ebenezer Cunningham, he helped expand ideas about spacetime. They showed how Maxwell's equations, which describe electricity and magnetism, still work even when spacetime changes in certain ways. Later, he moved to the United States. He earned his PhD in geometry and became a professor at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). At Caltech, he taught fluid dynamics to students. These students went on to work in aerodynamics, which is the science of how air moves around objects like airplanes.
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About Harry Bateman
Harry Bateman was born in Manchester, England, on May 29, 1882. He first became interested in math while attending Manchester Grammar School. In his last year there, he won a special scholarship to study at Trinity College, Cambridge.
He worked very hard to prepare for the tough Cambridge Mathematical Tripos exams. In 1903, he achieved the highest score, becoming a Senior Wrangler. He also won the Smith's Prize in 1905, which is another big award for math students.
His very first paper, a scientific article, was published while he was still a college student. He continued his studies in Germany and France. He also taught at the University of Liverpool and the University of Manchester.
Moving to the United States
In 1910, Harry Bateman moved to the United States. He taught at Bryn Mawr College and then Johns Hopkins University. While at Johns Hopkins, he worked with Frank Morley on geometry and earned his PhD. Even before getting his PhD, he had already published more than 60 scientific papers!
In 1917, he started his permanent job at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). At that time, Caltech was known as the "Throop Polytechnic Institute."
A famous scientist named Theodore von Kármán once described Harry Bateman. He said Bateman was a quiet, careful Englishman who knew a lot about fluid mechanics. Fluid mechanics is the study of how liquids and gases move.
Harry Bateman married Ethel Horner in 1912. They had a son named Harry Graham, who sadly died as a child. Later, they adopted a daughter named Joan Margaret. Harry Bateman passed away in 1946 from a coronary thrombosis, which is a type of heart problem. He was on his way to New York at the time.
Harry Bateman's Discoveries
Harry Bateman made many important contributions to mathematics and physics.
Spacetime and Electromagnetism
In 1907, Harry Bateman was teaching at the University of Liverpool. He worked with Ebenezer Cunningham, another brilliant mathematician. In 1908, they came up with the idea of a conformal group of spacetime. This idea helped explain how space and time can be transformed while still keeping certain physics laws true.
In 1910, Bateman published a paper called The Transformation of the Electrodynamical Equations. In this paper, he showed how certain changes to spacetime still keep Maxwell's equations working. Maxwell's equations are fundamental rules that describe how electricity and magnetism behave.
The Bateman Equation
In nuclear physics, the Bateman equation is a very useful mathematical model. It helps scientists figure out how much of a radioactive substance is left over time. It also shows how much activity there is in a decay chain. A decay chain is when one radioactive element changes into another, and then that one changes into another, and so on.
This model was first thought of by Ernest Rutherford in 1905. Harry Bateman provided the complete mathematical solution for it in 1910.
Other Important Work
Harry Bateman was the first to use a special math tool called the Laplace transform to solve a certain type of math problem in 1906. He also wrote important reports on these kinds of problems.
In 1914, Bateman published an important book called The Mathematical Analysis of Electrical and Optical Wave-motion. This book was packed with information about how waves, like light and electricity, move.
He also wrote other key textbooks. These included Differential Equations, Partial differential equations of mathematical physics, Hydrodynamics, and Numerical integration of differential equations. He even studied the Burgers' equation long before another scientist, Jan Burgers, became famous for it.
Bateman also wrote interesting articles about the history of applied mathematics. These included "The influence of tidal theory upon the development of mathematics" and "Hamilton's work in dynamics and its influence on modern thought."
Honors and Legacy
Harry Bateman received many awards and honors for his amazing work. He was chosen to be a member of the American Philosophical Society in 1924. In 1928, he became a member of the Royal Society of London, which is a very prestigious group. He was also elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1930.
He served as vice-president of the American Mathematical Society in 1935. In 1943, he gave the Society's important Gibbs Lecture. The Harry Bateman Research Instructorships at the California Institute of Technology are named in his honor.
After he passed away, his notes on very advanced mathematical functions were put together and published in 1953.
See also
- Bateman Manuscript Project
