William Wade Dunham (born 1947) is an American
writer
A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, ...
who was originally trained in
topology
In mathematics, topology (from the Greek words , and ) is concerned with the properties of a geometric object that are preserved under continuous deformations, such as stretching, twisting, crumpling, and bending; that is, without closing ...
but became interested in the
history of mathematics
The history of mathematics deals with the origin of discoveries in mathematics and the mathematical methods and notation of the past. Before the modern age and the worldwide spread of knowledge, written examples of new mathematical developments ...
and specializes in
Leonhard Euler
Leonhard Euler ( , ; 15 April 170718 September 1783) was a Swiss mathematician, physicist, astronomer, geographer, logician and engineer who founded the studies of graph theory and topology and made pioneering and influential discoveries ...
. He has received several awards for writing and teaching on this subject.
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Education
Dunham received his
BS from the
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the univers ...
in 1969, his
MS from
Ohio State
The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...
in 1970, and his PhD from the same institution in 1974.
Writings
Dunham won the American Association of Publishers' award for writing the Best Mathematics Book of 1994 for his book '' The Mathematical Universe''.
[ In his book ''Euler: The Master of Us All'', he examines Leonhard Euler's impressive mathematical work. He received a Lester R. Ford Award in 2006 for his expository article ''Touring the Calculus'', and the ]Chauvenet Prize
The Chauvenet Prize is the highest award for mathematical expository writing. It consists of a prize of $1,000 and a certificate, and is awarded yearly by the Mathematical Association of America in recognition of an outstanding expository article ...
in 2022 for his article ''The Early (and Peculiar) History of the Möbius Function''.analytic number theory
In mathematics, analytic number theory is a branch of number theory that uses methods from mathematical analysis to solve problems about the integers. It is often said to have begun with Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet's 1837 introduction of Diri ...
, as well as discussed Euler's evaluation of a non-trivial integral at the celebration of "Year of Euler" by the Euler Society. He published a chapter "Euler and the Fundamental Theorem of Algebra" in the book ''The Genius of Euler'' published in 2007 to commemorate the 300th birthday of Euler.
Works
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Footnotes
External links
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William Dunham at Muhlenberg CollegeA Tribute to Euler, William Dunham, YouTubeYour humble Servant, Is. Newton by William Dunham - YouTubeYour humble Servant, Is. Newton, Mathematical Association of America
1947 births
Living people
American science writers
University of Pittsburgh alumni
Ohio State University alumni
American historians of mathematics
Muhlenberg College faculty
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