Oliver Heaviside | |
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Born | Camden Town, Middlesex, England | 18 May 1850
Died | 3 February 1925 Mount Stuart Nursing Home Torquay, Devon | (aged 74)
Resting place | Paignton cemetery, Devon |
Nationality | British |
Known for |
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Awards | Faraday Medal (1922) FRS[1] (1891) |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Electrical engineering, mathematics and physics |
Institutions | Great Northern Telegraph Company |
Oliver Heaviside FRS[1] (/ˈhɛvisaɪd/; 18 May 1850 – 3 February 1925) was an English self-taught mathematician and physicist who invented a new technique for solving differential equations (equivalent to the Laplace transform), independently developed vector calculus, and rewrote Maxwell's equations in the form commonly used today. He significantly shaped the way Maxwell's equations are understood and applied in the decades following Maxwell's death. His formulation of the telegrapher's equations became commercially important during his own lifetime, after their significance went unremarked for a long while, as few others were versed at the time in his novel methodology.[2] Although at odds with the scientific establishment for most of his life, Heaviside changed the face of telecommunications, mathematics, and science.[2]