George Frederick James Temple (born 2 September 1901,

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; died 30 January 1992,

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...

) was an English mathematician and recipient of the

Sylvester Medal The Sylvester Medal is a bronze medal awarded by the Royal Society for the encouragement of mathematical research, and accompanied by a £1,000 prize. It was named in honour of James Joseph Sylvester, the Savilian chair of geometry, Savilian Prof ...

. He served as President 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 ...

from 1951 to 1953.

Education

Temple took his first degree as an evening student at

Birkbeck, University of London Birkbeck, University of London (formally Birkbeck College, University of London), is a Public university, public research university located in London, England, and a constituent college, member institution of the University of London. Establ ...

, between 1918 and 1922, and also worked there as a

research assistant A research assistant (RA) is a researcher employed, often on a temporary contract, by a university, research institute, or privately held organization to provide assistance in academic or private research endeavors. Research assistants work under ...

before being awarded a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in 1924.

Career and research

In 1924 he moved to

Imperial College London Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a Public university, public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a Al ...

as a demonstrator, where he worked under the direction of Sydney Chapman. After a period spent with Arthur Stanley Eddington at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, he returned to Imperial as reader in mathematics. He was appointed professor of mathematics at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

in 1932, where he returned after war service with the

Royal Aircraft Establishment The Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) was a British research establishment, known by several different names during its history, that eventually came under the aegis of the Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), bef ...

at Farnborough. In 1953 he was appointed Sedleian Professor of Natural Philosophy at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

, a chair which he held until 1968, and in which he succeeded Chapman. He was also an honorary

Fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

Queen's College, Oxford The Queen's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield in honour of Philippa of Hainault, queen of England. It is distinguished by its predominantly neoclassi ...

. During his time at Oxford he stated that he was 'a member of the most exclusive club in Oxford - which had no name or organisation but which met every Monday in The Eagle and Child pub with C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien and other great writers.' The group were known as

The Inklings The Inklings were an informal literary discussion group associated with J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis at the University of Oxford for nearly two decades between the early 1930s and late 1949. The Inklings were literary enthusiasts who prai ...

, but by the 1950s it was well past its literary peak, perhaps indicated by the fact that Temple was unaware that the group had a name.

Personal life

After the death of his wife in 1980, Temple, a devout

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

, took monastic vows in the

Benedictine order The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly Christian mysticism, contemplative Christian monasticism, monastic Religious order (Catholic), order of the Catholic Church for men and f ...

and entered

Quarr Abbey Quarr Abbey (French language, French: ''Abbaye Notre-Dame de Quarr'') is a monastery between the villages of Binstead and Fishbourne, Isle of Wight, Fishbourne on the Isle of Wight in southern England. The name is pronounced as "Kwor" (r ...

on the

, where he remained until his death.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Temple, George Frederick James 20th-century English mathematicians English Benedictines 1901 births 1992 deaths Alumni of Birkbeck, University of London Fellows of the Queen's College, Oxford Academics of King's College London Academics of Imperial College London Fellows of the Royal Society People educated at Ealing County Grammar School for Boys Sedleian Professors of Natural Philosophy