Stanley Skewes (; 1899–1988) was a South African

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History O ...

, best known for his discovery of the

Skewes's number In number theory, Skewes's number is any of several large numbers used by the South African mathematician Stanley Skewes as upper bounds for the smallest natural number x for which :\pi(x) > \operatorname(x), where is the prime-counting function ...

in 1933. He was one of

John Edensor Littlewood John Edensor Littlewood (9 June 1885 – 6 September 1977) was a British mathematician. He worked on topics relating to analysis, number theory, and differential equations, and had lengthy collaborations with G. H. Hardy, Srinivasa Ramanu ...

's students at

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. Skewes's numbers contributed to the refinement of the theory of prime numbers.

Academic career

Skewes obtained a degree in civil engineering from the University of Cape Town before emigrating to England. He studied mathematics at Cambridge University and obtained a PhD in mathematics in 1938. He discovered the first Skewes's number in 1933. This is also referred to as the Riemann true Skewes's number owing to its relationship to the Riemann hypothesis as related to prime number theory. He discovered the second Skewes's number in 1955. This number was applicable if the Riemann hypothesis is false. Since his original discovery the numbers have been further refined.

Publications

* *

Personal life

Stanley Skewes was born in

Germiston Germiston, also known as kwaDukathole, is a small city in the East Rand region of Gauteng, South Africa, administratively forming part of the City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality since the latter's establishment in 2000. It functions as ...

, South Africa in 1899. His parents were Henry (Harry) Skewes, a tin miner and assayer from

Cury Cury ( kw, Egloskuri) is a civil parish and village in southwest Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated approximately four miles (6 km) south of Helston on The Lizard peninsula. The parish is named for St Corentin and is reco ...

, Cornwall, England and Emily Moyle, who was American by birth. His parents moved from

Redruth Redruth ( , kw, Resrudh) is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England. The population of Redruth was 14,018 at the 2011 census. In the same year the population of the Camborne-Redruth urban area, which also includes Carn Brea, Illogan ...

, Cornwall in 1894 to the

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name Transvaal. * South African Republic (1856–1902; af, ...

, South Africa. He married Ena Allen. She was the daughter of the head chef at

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the cit ...

, and a talented opera singer. Among his contemporaries at Cambridge was Alan Turing. They rowed together at Cambridge. Although Skewes returned to South Africa, he revisited Cambridge and Cornwall. He was also a keen rugby player in his youth. Skewes and his number are discussed by

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in his book ''Of Matters Great and Small'' and in the 20th edition of the ''Guinness Book of Records''. A memorandum written by Skewes on his retirement was kept in a glass case in the department of mathematics at the University of Cape Town. The memorandum discuses Skewes's number and further development of it. He died in 1988 in Cape Town, South Africa.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Skewes, Stanley Number theorists South African people of Cornish descent Alumni of the University of Cambridge University of Cape Town alumni 1899 births 1988 deaths 20th-century South African mathematicians