Biography of George Boole
life
He was born in Lincoln, England, on 2 November 1815. Because of the poverty of his family, he taught himself Greek, Latin, and subjects such as French, German, Italian. Researches and develops the math on texts by Joseph Louis Lagrange and Pierre-Simon de Laplace. Encouraged and directed by Duncan Gregory, editor of the "Cambridge Mathematical Journal," George Boole is dedicated to the study of algebraic methods for solving differential equations and the publication of his results in the journal makes him get a medal of the Royal Society. In 1849 received the appointment to the Chair of mathematics at Queen's College, Cork, Ireland, where he taught for the rest of his life. And it is precisely in Cork that George Boole goes off at the age of 49 years, because of a severe pneumonia caused by the common cold, 8 December 1864.The works and thought
In the field of logic the greatest merits that are attributed to George Boole are the application of symbolic computation to logic, and exceeding the Aristotelian model because not enough to support the structure of logic itself. With his "The Mathematical Analysis of Logic," published in 1847 (written in the wake of the controversy that arose between Augustus De Morgan and Sir William Rowan Hamilton about the quantification of the predicate) Boole offers an interpretation of the relationship between mathematics, logic and philosophy that provides the association between logic and mathematics in place of the one between logic and metaphysics. In essence, George Boole puts the logic on the same floor of the science, laws, symbols, through which they express their thoughts. The British mathematician apply part of algebraic philosophy uncharted sector of formal logic. His most important work is "An Investigation of the Laws of Thought", published in 1854: it is addressed to the laws of thought, with which it intends to propose a new system of Boole logic. The aim of the essay is to study the laws of mental operations that are located at the base of the reasoning expressed in symbolic language the calculation and, consequently, a scientific discipline of logic supported by a method; After noting the similarities between objects of algebra and logic, Boole objects leads the compositions of statements to simple algebraic operations.Algebra which bears his name
With this work he founded in fact what is known even today, Boolean algebra, but it would be more accurate to describe how the theory of Boolean algebras. While maintaining distinct transactions, the science of logic in algebraic form from algebra in that field of mathematics, and the natural sciences sectors logical laws, it can be said that Boole algebraic logic has donated to a mathematical dress. Subsequently Boole dedicates itself to differential equations, topic for which in 1859 published an important text for this branch of mathematics. He also studied the calculus of finite differences, publishing in 1872 the treatise "Treatise on the Calculus of Finite Differences", and general problems of the calculus of probability. It is also remembered as one of the first scholars to have examined the basic properties of numbers, such as the distributive propertyas a property that can characterize the base some algebraic theories.Other curiosities
His third daughter, Alicia Boole, was also an important math: to her we owe the term "polytope" to refer to a convex solid in 3 or more dimensions as an equivalent of the polygons. The so-called "Booleans" (or Boolean variables), are essential and crucial used in data processing, low-level languages (Assembly), to those of a high standard and today's web technologies. The work of Boole provided an essential basis for studies in electronic circuits and on switching, and constituted an important step towards the conception of the modern computer. Boole met the woman who would give him five children in 1850: Mary Everest (they had 17 years apart and they married the September 11, 1855), was a daughter of the eccentric Reverend Thomas Roupell Everest, brother of Lieutenant Colonel George Everest, the man who would give his name to the highest mountain in the world. The last daughter, Ethel Lilian, became famous as the author of the novel "The Gadfly" (the Gadfly, in the Italian version translated as "the son of Cardinal") a novel inspired by his short but passionate love affair with a secret agent.Article contributed by the team of collaborators.