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{{EngvarB|date=July | {{EngvarB|date=July 2022}} | ||
{{Use dmy dates|date=July | {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}} | ||
{{Infobox scientist | {{Infobox scientist | ||
| name = Percy A. MacMahon | | name = Percy A. MacMahon | ||
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| doctoral_advisor = <!--(or | doctoral_advisors = )--> | | doctoral_advisor = <!--(or | doctoral_advisors = )--> | ||
| doctoral_students = | | doctoral_students = | ||
| known_for = | | known_for = [[MacMahon's master theorem|His master theorem]] | ||
| awards = | | awards = | ||
| signature = Percy signature.jpeg<!--(filename only)--> | | signature = Percy signature.jpeg<!--(filename only)--> | ||
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==Early life== | ==Early life== | ||
Percy MacMahon was born in Malta to a British military family. His father was a colonel at the time, retired in the rank of the [[Brigadier (United Kingdom)|brigadier]].<ref> | Percy MacMahon was born in Malta to a British military family. His father was a colonel at the time, retired in the rank of the [[Brigadier (United Kingdom)|brigadier]].<ref>{{cite journal | ||
| last1=Stein | first1=Paul R. | |||
| title=Book Review of P.A. MacMahon's "Collected Papers" | |||
| journal=[[Advances in Mathematics]] | |||
| volume=31 | |||
| issue=3 | |||
| date=1979 | |||
| pages=350—355 | |||
| doi=10.1016/0001-8708(79)90050-1 | doi-access=free}}</ref> | |||
MacMahon attended the Proprietary School in [[Cheltenham]]. At the age of 14 he won a Junior Scholarship to [[Cheltenham College]], which he attended as a day boy from 10 February 1868 until December 1870. At the age of 16 MacMahon was admitted to the [[Royal Military Academy, Woolwich]] and passed out after two years. | MacMahon attended the Proprietary School in [[Cheltenham]]. At the age of 14 he won a Junior Scholarship to [[Cheltenham College]], which he attended as a day boy from 10 February 1868 until December 1870. At the age of 16 MacMahon was admitted to the [[Royal Military Academy, Woolwich]] and passed out after two years. | ||
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MacMahon was elected a fellow of the [[Royal Society]] in 1890. He received the [[Royal Society Royal Medal]] in 1900, the [[Sylvester Medal]] in 1919, and the [[LMS De Morgan Medal|Morgan Medal]] by the [[London Mathematical Society]] in 1923. MacMahon was the President of the London Mathematical Society from 1894 to 1896. | MacMahon was elected a fellow of the [[Royal Society]] in 1890. He received the [[Royal Society Royal Medal]] in 1900, the [[Sylvester Medal]] in 1919, and the [[LMS De Morgan Medal|Morgan Medal]] by the [[London Mathematical Society]] in 1923. MacMahon was the President of the London Mathematical Society from 1894 to 1896. | ||
MacMahon is best known for his study of [[symmetric function]]s and enumeration of [[plane partition]]s; see [[MacMahon Master theorem]]. His two volume ''Combinatory analysis'', published in 1915/16,<ref>{{cite journal|author=Lovitt, W. V.|title=Review: Percy MacMahon, ''Combinatory Analysis''|journal=Bull. Amer. Math. Soc.|year=1916|volume=23|issue=2|pages=97–101|url=https://www.ams.org/journals/bull/1916-23-02/S0002-9904-1916-02878-3/|doi=10.1090/s0002-9904-1916-02878-3|doi-access=free}}</ref> is the first major book in [[enumerative combinatorics]]. MacMahon also did pioneering work in recreational mathematics and patented several successful puzzles. One of the best known puzzles is an [[edge-matching puzzle]] known as | MacMahon is best known for his study of [[symmetric function]]s and enumeration of [[plane partition]]s; see [[MacMahon Master theorem]]. His two volume ''Combinatory analysis'', published in 1915/16,<ref>{{cite journal|author=Lovitt, W. V.|title=Review: Percy MacMahon, ''Combinatory Analysis''|journal=Bull. Amer. Math. Soc.|year=1916|volume=23|issue=2|pages=97–101|url=https://www.ams.org/journals/bull/1916-23-02/S0002-9904-1916-02878-3/|doi=10.1090/s0002-9904-1916-02878-3|doi-access=free}}</ref> is the first major book in [[enumerative combinatorics]]. MacMahon also did pioneering work in recreational mathematics and patented several successful puzzles. One of the best known puzzles is an [[edge-matching puzzle]] known as [[MacMahon Squares]] which he published his 1921 treatise ''New Mathematical Pastimes,''<ref>{{Cite book|last=MacMahon|first=Percy Alexander|url=http://archive.org/details/newmathematicalp00macmuoft|title=New mathematical pastimes|date=1921|publisher=Cambridge, University Press|others=Gerstein - University of Toronto}}</ref> consisting of the unique set of 24 squares that can be made by colouring the edges with one of three colours.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Steckles|first=Katie|date=2012-03-29|title=MacMahon Squares|url=https://aperiodical.com/2012/03/macmahon-squares/|access-date=2020-11-11|website=The Aperiodical|language=en}}</ref> | ||
== Tribute == | == Tribute == | ||
A reviewer in "Science Progress in the Twentieth Century", writes: | A reviewer in "Science Progress in the Twentieth Century", writes: | ||
: ''It is, I believe, a loss to England and to mathematics that Major MacMahon has not directed a great school of research; the gain to the youthful mathematicians of such a leader is obvious; they would have received an impetus which the printed page will only give to a few. Is it not possible also that the quality of work done in such circumstances may not, like mercy, be doubly blest? [..] it is impossible to resist the feeling that there are countries in which mathematical teaching is better organised than it is in England.''<ref>[https://www.jstor.org/stable/43432465?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents Review of ''Combinatory Analysis''], in J. Murray, Science Progress in the Twentieth Century: A Quarterly Journal of Scientific Work & Thought, Vol. 10, No. 40 (April 1916), pp. 601–606.</ref> | : ''It is, I believe, a loss to England and to mathematics that Major MacMahon has not directed a great school of research; the gain to the youthful mathematicians of such a leader is obvious; they would have received an impetus which the printed page will only give to a few. Is it not possible also that the quality of work done in such circumstances may not, like mercy, be doubly blest? [..] it is impossible to resist the feeling that there are countries in which mathematical teaching is better organised than it is in England.''<ref>[https://www.jstor.org/stable/43432465?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents Review of ''Combinatory Analysis''], in J. Murray, Science Progress in the Twentieth Century: A Quarterly Journal of Scientific Work & Thought, Vol. 10, No. 40 (April 1916), pp. 601–606.</ref> | ||
[[Richard P. Stanley]] considers MacMahon as the most influential mathematician in enumerative combinatorics pre-1960.<ref>[https://arxiv.org/pdf/2105.07884.pdf Enumerative and Algebraic Combinatorics in the | [[Richard P. Stanley]] considers MacMahon as the most influential mathematician in enumerative combinatorics pre-1960.<ref>[https://arxiv.org/pdf/2105.07884.pdf Enumerative and Algebraic Combinatorics in the 1960’s and 1970’s], (17 June 2021)</ref> | ||
1960’s and 1970’s], (17 June 2021)</ref> | |||
== Portrayal in film == | == Portrayal in film == | ||
In the movie ''[[The Man Who Knew Infinity (film)|The Man Who Knew Infinity]]'' [[Kevin McNally]] plays as MacMahon. The film accurately depicts the first meeting of MacMahon and [[Srinivasa Ramanujan]], where Ramanujan successfully completes some mathematical calculations.<ref name="Andrews AMS">{{cite journal|last1=Andrews|first1=George E.|author-link1=George Andrews (mathematician)|title=The Man Who Knew Infinity : A Report on the Movie|journal=Notices of the AMS|volume=63|issue=2|date=February 2016|publisher=American Mathematical Society}}</ref> [[Gian-Carlo Rota]] notes in his introduction to Volume I of | In the movie ''[[The Man Who Knew Infinity (film)|The Man Who Knew Infinity]]'' [[Kevin McNally]] plays as MacMahon. The film accurately depicts the first meeting of MacMahon and [[Srinivasa Ramanujan]], where Ramanujan successfully completes some mathematical calculations.<ref name="Andrews AMS">{{cite journal|last1=Andrews|first1=George E.|author-link1=George Andrews (mathematician)|title=The Man Who Knew Infinity : A Report on the Movie|journal=Notices of the AMS|volume=63|issue=2|date=February 2016|publisher=American Mathematical Society}}</ref> [[Gian-Carlo Rota]] notes in his introduction to Volume I of MacMahon's Collected Papers: {{block quote|It would have been fascinating to be present at one of the battles of arithmetical wits at Trinity College, when MacMahon would regularly trounce Ramanujan by the display of superior ability for fast mental calculation (as reported by [[Donald C. Spencer|D. C. Spencer]], who heard it from [[G. H. Hardy]]). The written accounts of the lives of these characters, however, omit any mention of this episode, since it clashes against our prejudices.<ref name="Andrews AMS"/>}} | ||
==See also== | ==See also== | ||
*[[Cairo pentagonal tiling]], a tiling of the plane by pentagons also called "MacMahon's net" | *[[Cairo pentagonal tiling]], a tiling of the plane by pentagons also called "MacMahon's net" | ||
== Notes == | == Notes == | ||
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== References == | == References == | ||
{{Dual|source=freespace.virgin.net/p.garcia/|sourcepath=http://freespace.virgin.net/p.garcia/Ch%202.pdf|sourcearticle=Life and Work of Major Percy Alexander MacMahon|date=21 June | {{Dual|source=freespace.virgin.net/p.garcia/|sourcepath=http://freespace.virgin.net/p.garcia/Ch%202.pdf|sourcearticle=Life and Work of Major Percy Alexander MacMahon|date=21 June 2022}} | ||
* {{Cite thesis |degree=PhD |title=Life and Work of Major Percy Alexander MacMahon |arxiv=1607.01321 |last=Garcia |first=Paul |year=2006 |publisher=[[The Open University]] |bibcode=2016arXiv160701321G }} | * {{Cite thesis |degree=PhD |title=Life and Work of Major Percy Alexander MacMahon |arxiv=1607.01321 |last=Garcia |first=Paul |year=2006 |publisher=[[The Open University]] |bibcode=2016arXiv160701321G }} | ||