James Drewry Stewart, (March 29, 1941December 3, 2014) was a Canadian mathematician, violinist, and professor emeritus of mathematics at McMaster University. Stewart is best known for his series of calculus textbooks used for high school, college, and university level courses.

Career

Stewart received his master of science at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is conside ...

and his doctor of philosophy from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

in 1967. He worked for two years as a postdoctoral fellow at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degr ...

, where his research focused on

harmonic A harmonic is a wave with a frequency that is a positive integer multiple of the ''fundamental frequency'', the frequency of the original periodic signal, such as a sinusoidal wave. The original signal is also called the ''1st harmonic'', t ...

and

functional analysis Functional analysis is a branch of mathematical analysis, the core of which is formed by the study of vector spaces endowed with some kind of limit-related structure (e.g. inner product, norm, topology, etc.) and the linear functions defi ...

. His books are standard textbooks in universities in many countries. One of his most well-known textbooks is ''Calculus: Early Transcendentals'' (1995), a set of textbooks which is accompanied by
website
for students. Stewart was also a violinist, and a former member of the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra.

Integral House

From 2003 to 2009 a house designed by Brigitte Shim and Howard Sutcliffe was constructed for Dr. Stewart in the Rosedale neighbourhood of Toronto at a cost of $32 million. He paid an additional $5.4 million for the existing house and lot which was torn down to make room for his new home. Called

Integral House Integral House is a private residence located at 194 Roxborough Drive in the Rosedale neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The project was commissioned by mathematician James Stewart as a residence incorporating a performance space, and was ...

(a reference to its curved walls, and their similarity to the mathematical integral symbol), the house includes a concert hall that seats 150. Stewart has said, "My books and my house are my twin legacies. If I hadn't commissioned the house I'm not sure what I would have spent the money on." Glenn Lowry, director of the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of t ...

, called the house "one of the most important private houses built in North America in a long time."

Personal life

Stewart was gay and involved in

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term ...

activism. According to Joseph Clement, a documentary filmmaker who is working on a film about Stewart and Integral House, Stewart brought gay rights activist

George Hislop George Hislop (June 3, 1927 – October 8, 2005) was one of Canada's most influential gay activists. He was one of the earliest openly gay candidates for political office in Canada, and was a key figure in the early development of Toronto's g ...

to speak at McMaster in the early 1970s, when the LGBT liberation movement was in its infancy, and was involved in protests and demonstrations.

Death

In the summer of 2013, Stewart was diagnosed with

multiple myeloma Multiple myeloma (MM), also known as plasma cell myeloma and simply myeloma, is a cancer of plasma cells, a type of white blood cell that normally produces antibodies. Often, no symptoms are noticed initially. As it progresses, bone pain, ...

, a blood cancer. He died on December 3, 2014, aged 73.

Honours

In 2015, he was posthumously awarded the Meritorious Service Cross.

References

External links

*
Stewart Calculus
Official Biography
The house that math built
by Katie Daubs at the

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and par ...

*
Integral Man
', a documentary about Stewart and Integral House {{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, James 1941 births 2014 deaths Deaths from cancer in Ontario Deaths from multiple myeloma Canadian mathematicians Canadian textbook writers Canadian classical violinists Canadian male violinists and fiddlers McMaster University faculty Stanford University alumni University of Toronto faculty University of Toronto alumni LGBT rights activists from Canada Musicians from Toronto Scientists from Toronto Writers from Toronto 20th-century Canadian violinists and fiddlers Canadian gay writers LGBT scientists from Canada Recipients of the Meritorious Service Decoration 20th-century Canadian male musicians LGBT academics LGBT mathematicians