Jean Taylor facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jean Taylor
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Jean Ellen Taylor in 2019
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Jean Ellen Taylor
September 17, 1944 |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | University of California, Berkeley, University of Warwick, Princeton University |
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| Awards | Fellow of: |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | Rutgers University |
| Thesis | Regularity of the Singular-Set of Two-Dimensional Area-Minimizing Flat-Chains Modulo 3 in R3 (1973) |
| Doctoral advisor | Shiing-Shen Chern, Frederick J. Almgren, Jr. |
Jean Ellen Taylor (born 1944) is an American mathematician. She is a retired professor from Rutgers University. She also visits the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at New York University.
Contents
About Jean Ellen Taylor
Jean Ellen Taylor was born in Northern California in 1944. She went to Mount Holyoke College for her first degree. She graduated with top honors in 1966.
Her Journey in Science
Jean first started studying chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley. She earned a master's degree there. Later, she decided to switch to mathematics. She studied with a famous mathematician named Shiing-Shen Chern. She then went to the University of Warwick in England and earned another master's degree in math.
In 1973, Jean finished her highest degree, a doctorate, from Princeton University. Her advisor was Frederick J. Almgren, Jr..
Career and Leadership
After finishing her studies, Jean Taylor joined the faculty at Rutgers University in 1973. She taught there until she retired in 2002.
From 1999 to 2001, she was the president of the Association for Women in Mathematics. This group helps support women who work in math.
Jean Taylor has been married three times. Her husbands were also involved in math or science. They were mathematicians John Guckenheimer and Frederick Almgren, and science supporter William T. Golden.
Jean Taylor's Amazing Research
Jean Taylor is famous for her work on the math behind everyday things. She studied how soap bubbles form and how crystals grow.
The Math of Soap Bubbles
In 1973, she wrote her main research paper. It helped solve a big problem about the shapes of soap films. These are the thin layers of soap that make bubbles.
In 1976, Jean Taylor and Frederick Almgren proved something called Plateau's laws. These laws describe the exact shapes that soap bubbles make when they stick together. A scientist named Joseph Plateau had figured out these shapes in the 1800s, but he couldn't prove why they happened. Jean Taylor and Almgren's proof was a huge success in mathematics.
Awards and Special Honors
Jean Taylor has received many awards for her important work. She is a fellow of several major science groups. These include the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She is also a fellow of the American Mathematical Society and the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics.
In 2001, her first college, Mount Holyoke College, gave her an honorary doctorate. This is a special degree given to honor someone's achievements. In 2017, she was chosen as one of the first fellows of the Association for Women in Mathematics.
