George Leo Watson (13 December 1909 – 9 January 1988, London) was a British mathematician, who specialized in number theory.

Education and career

Born in

Whitby Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It is on the Yorkshire Coast at the mouth of the River Esk, North Yorkshire, River Esk and has a maritime, mineral and tourist economy. From the Middle Ages, Whitby ...

, Watson matriculated at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, 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 ...

in 1927, where he was tutored in mathematics by S. Pollard and A. S. Besicovitch. After graduating in 1930 he went to India as a member of the

Indian Civil Service The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British Raj, British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947. Its members ruled over more than 3 ...

, serving as a District Commissioner in

Nagpur Nagpur (; ISO 15919, ISO: ''Nāgapura'') is the second capital and third-largest city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is called the heart of India because of its central geographical location. It is the largest and most populated city i ...

. There he spent his leisure time studying the number theory books of

Leonard Dickson Leonard Eugene Dickson (January 22, 1874 – January 17, 1954) was an American mathematician. He was one of the first American researchers in abstract algebra, in particular the theory of finite fields and classical groups, and is also rem ...

and began to work on research in number theory. After India's independence he returned to England and taught at South London's Acton Technical College (later a part of

Brunel University Brunel University of London (BUL) is a public research university located in the Uxbridge area of London, England. It is named after Isambard Kingdom Brunel, a Victorian engineer and pioneer of the Industrial Revolution. It became a university ...

). In 1951 he attracted the attention of professional mathematicians with a new proof of the seven cubes theorem; Watson's proof was considerably simpler than the 1943 proof by

Yuri Linnik Yuri Vladimirovich Linnik (; January 8, 1915 – June 30, 1972) was a Soviet mathematician active in number theory, probability theory and mathematical statistics. Biography Linnik was born in Bila Tserkva, in present-day Ukraine. He went to ...

. (The seven cubes theorem states that every sufficiently large positive integer is the sum of seven cubes; see

Waring's problem In number theory, Waring's problem asks whether each natural number ''k'' has an associated positive integer ''s'' such that every natural number is the sum of at most ''s'' natural numbers raised to the power ''k''. For example, every natural num ...

Harold Davenport Harold Davenport FRS (30 October 1907 – 9 June 1969) was an English mathematician, known for his extensive work in number theory. Early life and education Born on 30 October 1907 in Huncoat, Lancashire, Davenport was educated at Accringto ...

helped Watson get a job as a Lecturer at

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

and served as the doctoral advisor for Watson's 1953 thesis ''Some topics in number theory''. At University College London, Watson became in 1961 in a Reader and in 1970 a Professor, then retired in 1977 as Professor Emeritus. In 1968 Watson was awarded the Senior

Berwick Prize The Berwick Prize and Senior Berwick Prize are two prizes of the London Mathematical Society awarded in alternating years in memory of William Edward Hodgson Berwick, a previous Vice-President of the LMS. Berwick left some money to be given to the ...

of the

London Mathematical Society The London Mathematical Society (LMS) is one of the United Kingdom's Learned society, learned societies for mathematics (the others being the Royal Statistical Society (RSS), the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications (IMA), the Edinburgh ...

(LMS) for three of his papers on number theory: ''Diophantine equations reducible to quadratics'' (1967), ''Non-homogeneous cubic equations'' (1967), and ''Asymmetric inequalities for indefinite quadratic forms'' (1968).

Selected publications

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, George Leo 20th-century English mathematicians British number theorists Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Academics of University College London Indian Civil Service (British India) officers 1909 births 1988 deaths