James MacCullagh
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
James MacCullagh (1809 – 24 October 1847) was an Irish mathematician.
Born in Landahaussy, near Strabane, County Tyrone, Ireland, he was a fellow of Trinity College Dublin and a contemporary there of William Rowan Hamilton. Although he worked mostly on optics, he is best remembered for his work on geometry; he published his most significant work On surfaces of the second order in 1843.
In Passages from the Life of a Philosopher, Charles Babbage wrote that MacCullagh was "an excellent friend of mine" and discussed the benefits and drawbacks of the analytical engine with him.
MacCullagh died in Dublin at his own hand, perhaps depressed by what he saw as the decline of his mathematical powers.
[edit] External links
- O'Connor, John J. & Robertson, Edmund F., “James MacCullagh”, MacTutor History of Mathematics archive
- James MacCullagh's Collected works at the Internet Archive
 |
This article about a mathematician is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
Categories: 1809 births | 1847 deaths | Fellows of the Royal Society | Recipients of the Copley Medal | Irish mathematicians | Mathematicians who committed suicide | People associated with Trinity College, Dublin | People from County Tyrone | British mathematicians | Mathematician stubs | Irish people stubs
