Sir Alfred Bray Kempe FRS (6 July 1849 – 21 April 1922) was a mathematician best known for his work on linkages and the

four colour theorem In mathematics, the four color theorem, or the four color map theorem, states that no more than four colors are required to color the regions of any map so that no two adjacent regions have the same color. ''Adjacent'' means that two regions sha ...

Biography

Kempe was the son of the Rector of

St James's Church, Piccadilly St James's Church, Piccadilly, also known as St James's Church, Westminster, and St James-in-the-Fields, is an Anglican church on Piccadilly in the centre of London, United Kingdom. The church was designed and built by Sir Christopher Wren. Th ...

, the Rev. John Edward Kempe. He was educated at

St Paul's School, London (''By Faith and By Learning'') , established = , closed = , type = Independent school Public school , religion = Church of England , president = , h ...

and then studied at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

, where Arthur Cayley was one of his teachers. He graduated BA (22nd wrangler) in 1872. Despite his interest in mathematics he became a barrister, specialising in the

ecclesiastical law Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is th ...

. He was knighted in 1913, the same year he became the Chancellor for the Diocese of London. He was also Chancellor of the dioceses of Newcastle, Southwell, St Albans, Peterborough, Chichester, and Chelmsford. He received the honorary degree DCL from the

University of Durham Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by royal charte ...

and he was elected a

Bencher A bencher or Master of the Bench is a senior member of an Inn of Court in England and Wales or the Inns of Court in Northern Ireland, or the Honorable Society of King's Inns in Ireland. Benchers hold office for life once elected. A bencher ca ...

of the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and ...

in 1909. In 1876 he published his article ''On a General Method of describing Plane Curves of the nth degree by Linkwork,'' which presented a procedure for constructing a linkage that traces an arbitrary algebraic plane curve. This was a remarkable generalization of his work on the design of linkages to trace straight lines. This direct connection between linkages and

algebraic curves In mathematics, an affine algebraic plane curve is the zero set of a polynomial in two variables. A projective algebraic plane curve is the zero set in a projective plane of a homogeneous polynomial in three variables. An affine algebraic plane ...

is now called Kempe's universality theorem. While Kempe's proof was flawed, the first complete proof was provided in 2002, based on his ideas. Quadruplanar_invesor_of_Sylvester_and_Kempe_Alternate

Quadruplanar_invesor_of_Sylvester_and_Kempe_Alternate

In 1877 Kempe discovered a new

straight line linkage A straight-line mechanism is a mechanism that converts any type of rotary or angular motion to perfect or near-perfect straight-line motion, or ''vice versa''. Straight-line motion is linear motion of definite length or "stroke", every forwa ...

called the Quadruplanar inversor or ''Sylvester–Kempe Inversor'' and published his influential lectures on the subject. In 1879 Kempe wrote his famous "proof" of the

, shown incorrect by

Percy Heawood Percy John Heawood (8 September 1861 – 24 January 1955) was a British mathematician, who concentrated on graph colouring. Life He was the son of the Rev. John Richard Heawood of Newport, Shropshire, and his wife Emily Heath, daughter of the ...

in 1890. Much later, his work led to fundamental concepts such as the

Kempe chain Kempe may refer to: * Kempe baronets, a title in the Baronetage of England * Kempe chain, part of the four-colour theorem * Kempe Fjord, King Christian X Land, Greenland * Kempe Glacier, Antarctica * Kempe Hill, former name of Camp Hill, West Mi ...

and unavoidable sets. Kempe (1886) revealed a rather marked philosophical bent, and much influenced

Charles Sanders Peirce Charles Sanders Peirce ( ; September 10, 1839 – April 19, 1914) was an American philosopher, logician, mathematician and scientist who is sometimes known as "the father of pragmatism". Educated as a chemist and employed as a scientist for t ...

. Kempe also discovered what are now called

multiset In mathematics, a multiset (or bag, or mset) is a modification of the concept of a set that, unlike a set, allows for multiple instances for each of its elements. The number of instances given for each element is called the multiplicity of that e ...

s, although this fact was not noted until long after his death. Ivor Grattan-Guinness (2000) ''The Search for Mathematical Roots 1870–1940''. Princeton Univ. Press Kempe was elected a

fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

in 1881. He was Treasurer and Vice-President of the Royal Society 1899–1919. He was a president of the London Mathematical Society from 1892 to 1894. He was also a

mountain climber Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, an ...

, mostly in Switzerland. His first wife was Mary, daughter of

Sir William Bowman, 1st Baronet Sir William Bowman, 1st Baronet (20 July 1816 – 29 March 1892) was an English surgeon, histologist and anatomist. He is best known for his research using microscopes to study various human organs, though during his lifetime he pursued a succe ...

; she died in 1893. He then married, in 1897, Ida, daughter of Judge Meadows White, QC. He had two sons and one daughter.

References

External links

* * *From the Cornell University archives: A. B. Kempe (1877
How to draw a straight line; a lecture on linkages
, London: Macmillan and Co. *Found at Project Gutenberg: A. B. Kempe (1877
How to draw a straight line; a lecture on linkages, London: Macmillan and Co.
*Examples of Kempe's Universality Theorem
Mechanical computation and algebraic curvesAutomatic generation of Kempe Linkages for Algebraic Curves.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kempe, Alfred Bray 19th-century English mathematicians 20th-century English mathematicians 1849 births 1922 deaths Graph theorists Fellows of the Royal Society Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge English mountain climbers