Mizan Rahman (September 16, 1932 – January 5, 2015) was a

Bangladeshi Canadian Bangladeshi Canadians (, ) are Canadian citizens of Bangladeshi descent, first-generation Bangladeshi immigrants, or descendants of Bangladeshis who immigrated to Canada from East Bengal. The term may also refer to people who hold dual Banglade ...

mathematician and writer. He specialized in fields of mathematics such as

hypergeometric series In mathematics, the Gaussian or ordinary hypergeometric function 2''F''1(''a'',''b'';''c'';''z'') is a special function represented by the hypergeometric series, that includes many other special functions as specific or limiting cases. It is ...

and

orthogonal polynomials In mathematics, an orthogonal polynomial sequence is a family of polynomials such that any two different polynomials in the sequence are orthogonal In mathematics, orthogonality (mathematics), orthogonality is the generalization of the geom ...

. He also had interests encompassing literature, philosophy, scientific skepticism, freethinking and rationalism. He co-authored ''Basic Hypergeometric Series'' with George Gasper. This book is widely considered as the standard work of choice for that subject of study. He also published ten

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

books.

Education and career

Rahman was born and grew up in

East Bengal East Bengal (; ''Purbô Bangla/Purbôbongo'') was the eastern province of the Dominion of Pakistan, which covered the territory of modern-day Bangladesh. It consisted of the eastern portion of the Bengal region, and existed from 1947 until 195 ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

(nowadays

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

). He studied at the

University of Dhaka The University of Dhaka (), also known as Dhaka University (DU), is a public university, public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Established in 1921, it is the oldest active university in the country. The University of Dhaka w ...

, where he obtained his B.Sc degree in Mathematics and Physics in 1953, and his M.Sc. in Applied Mathematics in 1954. He received a B.A. in Mathematics from the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

in 1958, and an M.A. in mathematics from the same university in 1963. He was a senior lecturer at the University of Dhaka from 1958 until 1962. Rahman went to the

University of New Brunswick The University of New Brunswick (UNB) is a public university with two primary campuses in Fredericton and Saint John, New Brunswick. It is the oldest English language, English-language university in Canada, and among the oldest public universiti ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

in 1962 and received his Ph.D. in 1965 with a thesis on the kinetic theory of plasma using singular integral equation techniques. After his Ph.D, he became an assistant professor, later a full professor, at

Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language public university, public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to se ...

, where he spent the rest of his career, after his retirement as a Distinguished Professor Emeritus. He unexpectedly died in Ottawa on January 5, 2015, at the age of 82.

Writing and other activities

Apart from his teaching and academic activities, Rahman wrote on various issues, particularly on those related to Bangladesh. He contributed to Internet blogs and various internet e-magazines, mainly in the Bengali language, covering his interests. He was a prolific writer and a regular contributor to ''Porshi'', a Bengali monthly publication based in

Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that is a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical area of the Santa Clara Valley ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. He was also the member of the advisory board of the Mukto-Mona, an Internet congregation of freethinkers, rationalists, skeptics, atheists and humanists of mainly Bengali and South Asian descent.

Honors and awards

*Best Teaching Award (1986) *Life-time membership in the Bharat Ganita Parishad (Indian Mathematical Society) *Fellow of the

Bangladesh Academy of Sciences Bangladesh Academy of Sciences (BAS) is an academic forum for Bangladeshi scientists and technologists. Established in 1973, it aims to fulfill the role of promoting research and development of sciences in Bangladesh. History After the partiti ...

(2002) *Award of Excellence from Bangladesh Publications (Ottawa) (1996)

Books

English * ''Basic Hypergeometric Series'' (co-author) * ''Special Functions, q-Series and Related Topics'' (co-editor)Special Functions, q-Series and Related Topics, Fields Institute Communications, volume 14, American Mathematical Society, Providence, 1997. * ''The Little Garden in the Corner'' (prose) Bengali *''তীর্থ আমার গ্রাম'' (Tirtha is my village) (1994) *''লাল নদী'' (The Red River) (2001) *''অ্যালবাম'' (Album) (2002) *''প্রসঙ্গ নারী'' (Context - Women) (2002) *''অনন্যা আমার দেশ'' (Ananya is my country) (2004) *''আনন্দ নিকেতন'' (Ananda Niketan) (2006) *''দুর্যোগের পূর্বাভাস'' (Premonition) (2007) *''শুধু মাটি নয়'' (Not just soil) (2009) *''ভাবনার আত্মকথন'' (Autobiography of thought) (2010) *''শূন্য'' (Zero) (2012) *''শূন্য থেকে মহাবিশ্ব'' With Avijit Roy(The universe from zero)(2015)

References

External links

OP-SF NET 22.1, January 2015.
Topic #1: Mizan Rahman 1932–2015 (a short obituary by Martin Muldoon)
A photo album in memory of Mizan Rahman
(maintained by Tom Koornwinder) {{DEFAULTSORT:Rahman, Mizan 1932 births 2015 deaths Academic staff of Carleton University Alumni of the University of Cambridge Bangladeshi emigrants to Canada Bangladeshi humanists Bengali writers Canadian mathematicians University of Dhaka alumni University of New Brunswick alumni