Richard K. Guy | |
|---|---|
 Guy in 2005 | |
| Born | Richard Kenneth Guy 30 September 1916 Nuneaton, England |
| Died | 9 March 2020 (aged 103) |
| Nationality | British/Canadian |
| Alma mater | Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge (B.A. in 1938, M.A. in 1941) |
| Known for | Recreational mathematics Strong law of small numbers Unistable polyhedron |
| Awards | Lester R. Ford Award (1989) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Mathematics |
| Institutions | University of Calgary |
| Website | science |
Richard Kenneth Guy (30 September 1916 – 9 March 2020) was a British mathematician. He was a professor in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Calgary.[1] He is known for his work in number theory, geometry, recreational mathematics, combinatorics, and graph theory.[2][3] He is best known for co-authorship (with John Conway and Elwyn Berlekamp) of Winning Ways for your Mathematical Plays and authorship of Unsolved Problems in Number Theory.[4] He published more than 300 scholarly articles.[5] Guy proposed the partially tongue-in-cheek "strong law of small numbers", which says there are not enough small integers available for the many tasks assigned to them – thus explaining many coincidences and patterns found among numerous cultures.[6] For this paper he received the MAA Lester R. Ford Award.[7]
- ^ Albers & Alexanderson (2011) p. 320
- ^ MMA (2016)
- ^ Author biography from Winning Ways for your Mathematical Plays, Vol. I, 2nd ed., AK Peters, 2001.
- ^ Roberts (2016)
- ^ Scott (2012) p. 29
- ^ Guy, Richard K. (October 1988). "The Strong Law of Small Numbers" (PDF). Am. Math. Mon. 95 (8): 697–712. doi:10.2307/2322249. ISSN 0002-9890. JSTOR 2322249.
- ^ MMA (2016)