David Wilson Henderson (February 23, 1939 – December 20, 2018) was a Professor Emeritus of Mathematics in the Department of Mathematics at

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to ...

. His work ranges from the study of topology, algebraic geometry,

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

exploratory mathematics Experimental mathematics is an approach to mathematics in which computation is used to investigate mathematical objects and identify properties and patterns. It has been defined as "that branch of mathematics that concerns itself ultimately with th ...

for teaching prospective mathematics teachers. His papers in the

philosophy of mathematics The philosophy of mathematics is the branch of philosophy that studies the assumptions, foundations, and implications of mathematics. It aims to understand the nature and methods of mathematics, and find out the place of mathematics in peopl ...

place him with the intuitionist school of philosophy of mathematics. His practical geometry, which he put to work and discovered in his carpentry work, gives a perspective of geometry as the understanding of the infinite spaces through local properties.Henderson, D. W. (1990). ''Experiencing Geometry on Plane and Sphere'', Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River, NJ.

Euclidean geometry Euclidean geometry is a mathematical system attributed to ancient Greek mathematician Euclid, which he described in his textbook on geometry: the ''Elements''. Euclid's approach consists in assuming a small set of intuitively appealing axioms ...

is seen in his work as extendable to the spherical and hyperbolic spaces starting with the study and reformulation of the

5th postulate In geometry, the parallel postulate, also called Euclid's fifth postulate because it is the fifth postulate in Euclid's ''Elements'', is a distinctive axiom in Euclidean geometry. It states that, in two-dimensional geometry: ''If a line segmen ...

. He was struck by an automobile in a pedestrian crosswalk on December 19, 2018, and died the next day from his injuries.

References

Bibliography

* Henderson, D. W. & Taimina, D. (2001). ''Crocheting the Hyperbolic Plane'', ''Mathematical Intelligencer'', vol.23, No. 2, 2001, pp. 17–28. * Henderson, D. W. & Taimina, D. (2001). ''Essays in Mathematics?'' (Latvian), Skolotajs (Teacher journal), 4(28), 2001, Riga, pp. 27–31. * Henderson, D. W. & Taimina, D. (2001). ''Geometry'', ''The Hutchinson Encyclopedia of Mathematics''. * Henderson, D. W. & Taimina, D. (2004). ''Non-Euclidean Geometries'', ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. * Henderson, D. W. & Taimina, D. (2005). ''Experiencing Geometry: Euclidean and non-Euclidean with History'', Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ. * Taimina, D. & Henderson, W. (2005). ''How to Use History to Clarify Common Confusions in Geometry'', MAA Notes volume No.68, p. 57-73. * Taimina, D. & Henderson, D. W. (2005). ''Experiencing Geometry: Euclidean and Non-Euclidean with History'', 3rd Edition.-Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ. * Taimina, D. & Henderson, D. W. (2020) " Experiencing Geometry: Euclidean and non-Euclidean with History", 4th Edition, open source ''Project Euclid'' https://projecteuclid.org/euclid.bia/1598805325 * Taimina, D. & Henderson, D. W. (2006). ''Experiencing Meanings in Geometry'', in

Nathalie Sinclair Nathalie Michelle Sinclair (born 1970) is a Canadian researcher in mathematics education who holds the Canada Research Chair in Tangible Mathematics Learning at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver. Early life and education Sinclair was born i ...

, David Pimm, William Higginson eds, ''Mathematics and the Aesthetic'', Springer, pp. 58–83.

External links

Personal webpage

David W. Henderson and Daina Taimina, Experiencing Meanings of Geometry, Chapter 3 in Aesthetics and Mathematics, (edited by David Pimm and M. Sinclair), Springer-Verlag. 2006, p.58-83.pdf.
* In Search of Meaning (Biography of David W. Henderson

Cornell University faculty 21st-century American mathematicians 2018 deaths Place of birth missing 1939 births 20th-century American mathematicians {{US-mathematician-stub