Julian Lowell Coolidge (September 28, 1873 – March 5, 1954) was an American

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

, a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

and chairman of the

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

Mathematics Department.

Biography

Born in

Brookline, Massachusetts Brookline () is an affluent town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, and part of the Greater Boston, Boston metropolitan area. An exclave of Norfolk County, Brookline borders six of Boston's neighborhoods: Brighton, Boston, Brighton ...

, he graduated from

and

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and aro ...

. Between 1897 and 1899, Julian Coolidge taught at the

Groton School Groton School is a Private school, private, college-preparatory school, college-preparatory, day school, day and boarding school located in Groton, Massachusetts, United States. It is affiliated with the Episcopal Church (United States), Episcop ...

, where one of his students was

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

. He left Groton to accept a teaching position at Harvard and in 1902 was given an assistant professorship, but took two years off to further his education with studies in

Turin, Italy Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

before receiving his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

from the

University of Bonn The University of Bonn, officially the Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (), is a public research university in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the () on 18 October 1818 by Frederick Willi ...

. Julian Coolidge then returned to teach at Harvard where he remained for his entire academic career, interrupted only by a year at the Sorbonne in Paris as an exchange professor. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he served with the U.S. Army's Overseas Expeditionary Force in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, rising to the rank of

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

. In 1919, he was awarded a

Knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

of France's

Legion of Honor The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and civil. Currently consisting of five classes, it was ...

. Coolidge returned to teach at Harvard where he was awarded a full professorship. In 1927 he was appointed chairman of the Mathematics Department at Harvard, a position he held until his retirement in 1940. A Fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

, Coolidge served as president of the

Mathematical Association of America The Mathematical Association of America (MAA) is a professional society that focuses on mathematics accessible at the undergraduate level. Members include university A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary edu ...

and vice-president of the

American Mathematical Society The American Mathematical Society (AMS) is an association of professional mathematicians dedicated to the interests of mathematical research and scholarship, and serves the national and international community through its publications, meetings, ...

. He authored several books on mathematics and on the

history of mathematics The history of mathematics deals with the origin of discoveries in mathematics and the History of mathematical notation, mathematical methods and notation of the past. Before the modern age and the worldwide spread of knowledge, written examples ...

. He was Master of Lowell House (one of Harvard's undergraduate residences) from 1930 to 1940. Coolidge died in 1954 in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

, aged 80.

Writings

*J. L. Coolidge (1909
''The elements of non-Euclidean geometry''

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

. *J. L. Coolidge (1916) '' A Treatise on the Circle and the Sphere'',

. *J. L. Coolidge (1924) ''The geometry of the complex domain'', The Clarendon Press. *J. L. Coolidge (1925) ''An introduction to mathematical probability'',

. *J. L. Coolidge (1931) ''A Treatise on Algebraic Plane Curves'',

(

Dover Publications Dover Publications, also known as Dover Books, is an American book publisher founded in 1941 by Hayward and Blanche Cirker. It primarily reissues books that are out of print from their original publishers. These are often, but not always, book ...

2004). *J. L. Coolidge (1940) ''A history of geometrical methods'',

(

2003). *J. L. Coolidge (1945) ''History of the conic sections and quadric surfaces'', The Clarendon Press. *J. L. Coolidge (1949
''The Mathematics Of Great Amateurs''

(

1963).

References

External links

* *
Coolidge: "Origin of Polar Coordinates" (from MacTutor)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coolidge, Julian 1873 births 1954 deaths 20th-century American mathematicians American historians of mathematics United States Army personnel of World War I University of Paris alumni University of Bonn alumni Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Harvard University alumni Harvard University Department of Mathematics faculty American recipients of the Legion of Honour Presidents of the Mathematical Association of America People from Cambridge, Massachusetts People from Brookline, Massachusetts American expatriates in France

Biography

Writings

See also

References

External links