William Dunham (mathematician)
{{Short description|American math historian (born 1947)}}
William Wade Dunham (born 1947) is an American writer who was originally trained in topology but became interested in the history of mathematics and specializes in Leonhard Euler. He has received several awards for writing and teaching on this subject.
{{cite web
|url=http://www.passhema.org/past-conferences/2002/sshema/Dunham2.html
|title=William Dunham
|publisher=www.passhema.org
|accessdate=2008-06-15}}
Education
Dunham received his BS from the University of Pittsburgh in 1969, his MS from Ohio State in 1970, and his PhD from the same institution in 1974.{{cite web | title=William Dunham | website=The Mathematics Genealogy Project | url=https://mathgenealogy.org/id.php?id=10022 | access-date=2022-11-13}}
Writings
Dunham won the American Association of Publishers' award for writing the Best Mathematics Book of 1994 for his book The Mathematical Universe. In his book Euler: The Master of Us All, he examines Leonhard Euler's impressive mathematical work.
{{cite book
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uKOVNvGOkhQC&q=William+Dunham
|title=Euler: The Master of Us All - Google Book Search
|accessdate=2008-06-15
|last=Dunham
|first=Willam
|date=4 March 1999
|publisher=Cambridge University Press
|isbn=9780883853283
}}{{cite web|author=Wagner, Clifford|title=Review of Euler: The Master of Us All by William Dunham|website=Mathematical Association of America|date=July 2007|url=http://www.maa.org/publications/periodicals/convergence/euler-the-master-of-us-all}} He received a Lester R. Ford Award in 2006 for his expository article Touring the Calculus,{{cite journal|author=Dunham, William|title=Touring the Calculus|journal=Amer. Math. Monthly|year=2005|volume=112|pages=1–19|url=http://www.maa.org/programs/maa-awards/writing-awards/touring-the-calculus-gallery|doi=10.2307/30037380|jstor=30037380}} and the Chauvenet Prize in 2022 for his article The Early (and Peculiar) History of the Möbius Function.{{cite journal | last=Dunham | first=William | title=The Early (and Peculiar) History of the Möbius Function | journal=Mathematics Magazine | publisher=Taylor & Francis | volume=91 | issue=2 | date=2018-03-15 | issn=0025-570X | doi=10.1080/0025570x.2017.1413921 | pages=83–91| s2cid=125148213 }}
In 2007, Dunham gave a lecture about Euler's product-sum formula and its relationship to analytic number theory, as well as discussed Euler's evaluation of a non-trivial integral at the celebration of "Year of Euler" by the Euler Society.{{cite web
|url=http://www.maa.org/news/070907mfhighlight.html
|title=MathFest Highlight: William Dunham Presents Euler in Three Acts
|publisher=www.maa.org
|accessdate=2008-06-15}} He published a chapter "Euler and the Fundamental Theorem of Algebra" in the book The Genius of Euler published in 2007 to commemorate the 300th birthday of Euler.
{{cite book
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M4-zUnrSxNoC&q=William+Dunham
|title=The genius of Euler: reflections on ... - Google Book Search
|accessdate=2008-06-15
|last=Dunham
|first=William
|year=2007
|isbn=9780883855584
}}
Works
- {{Cite book|last=Dunham|first=William|year=1990|publisher=John Wiley and Sons|edition=1st|isbn=0-471-50030-5|title=Journey Through Genius: The Great Theorems of Mathematics|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/journeythroughge00dunh}}{{cite news|author=Dembart, Lee|newspaper=LA Times|title=Review: Journey Through Genius by William Dunham|date=May 15, 1990|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-05-15-vw-45-story.html}}
- {{Cite book|last=Dunham|first=William|year=1994|publisher=John Wiley and Sons|edition=1st|isbn=0-471-53656-3|title=The Mathematical Universe|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/mathematicaluniv0000dunh}}
- {{Cite book|last=Dunham|first=William|year=1999|publisher=Mathematical Association of America|edition=1st|isbn=0-88385-328-0|title=Euler: The Master of Us All|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/eulermasterofusa0000dunh}}
- {{Cite book|last=Dunham|first=William|year=2007|publisher=Mathematical Association of America|isbn=978-0-88385-558-4|title="Euler and the Fundamental Theorem of Algebra" in The Genius of Euler: Reflections on his Life and Work}}
- {{Cite book|last=Dunham|first=William|year=2008|publisher=Princeton University Press|edition=1st|isbn=978-0-691-13626-4|title=The Calculus Gallery|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QnXSqvTiEjYC}}{{cite journal|author=Katz, Victor|title=Review of The Calculus Gallery by William Dunham; and Musings of the Masters edited by Raymond G. Ayoub|journal=American Scientist|year=2006|pages=83–84|doi=10.1511/2006.57.83|url=http://www.americanscientist.org/bookshelf/pub/reading-the-masters}}
- {{cite AV media | people = Dunham, William | title = Great Thinkers, Great Theorems | medium = Video Lecture Series | publisher = The Teaching Company | year = 2010 | url = http://www.thegreatcourses.com/tgc/courses/course_detail.aspx?cid=1471 | isbn = 159803690-4 }}
Footnotes
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{MathGenealogy|id=10022|title=William Dunham}}
- [https://www.muhlenberg.edu/academics/mathcs/mathematics/facultystaff/williamdunham/ William Dunham at Muhlenberg College]
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEWj93XjON0 A Tribute to Euler, William Dunham, YouTube]
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQ5D8zRr2IA Your humble Servant, Is. Newton by William Dunham - YouTube]
- [http://www.maa.org/meetings/calendar-events/your-humble-servant-is-newton Your humble Servant, Is. Newton, Mathematical Association of America]
{{Authority control}}
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Category:American science writers
Category:University of Pittsburgh alumni
Category:Ohio State University alumni