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Portrait of William Kingdon Clifford

William Kingdon Clifford

(1845–1879) Mathematician United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

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William Kingdon Clifford was a mathematician from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, best known for The common sense of the exact sciences.

Quick Facts About William Kingdon Clifford

Born
May 4, 1845
Died
March 3, 1879
Nationality
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
Profession
Mathematician
Notable works
The common sense of the exact sciences
Known for
Clifford algebra, Bessel–Clifford function, Clifford's circle theorems, Clifford's theorem on special divisors, Clifford parallel
Spouse
Lucy Clifford

About William Kingdon Clifford

William Kingdon Clifford was a British mathematician and philosopher. Building on the work of Hermann Grassmann, he introduced what is now termed geometric algebra. This is a special case of what later became known as the Clifford algebra, which was named in his honour. The operations of geometric algebra have the effect of mirroring, rotating, translating, and mapping the geometric objects that are being modelled to new positions. Clifford algebras in general and geometric algebra in particular have been of ever increasing importance to mathematical physics, geometry, and computing. Clifford was the first to suggest that gravitation might be a manifestation of an underlying geometry. In his philosophical writings he coined the expression mind-stuff.

Biography source: Wikipedia

Awards & Honors

Fellow of the Royal Society

Quotes by William Kingdon Clifford

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