Class
| • | 1. Mathematical and Physical Sciences | [X] |
| | 1 | Name: | Dr. Robin J. H. Clark | | | Institution: | University College London | | | Year Elected: | 2010 | | | Class: | 1. Mathematical and Physical Sciences | | | Subdivision: | 102. Chemistry and Chemical Biochemistry | | | Residency: | International | | | Living? : |
Deceased
| | | Birth Date: | 1935 | | | Death Date: | December 6, 2018 | | | | | | |
Robin Clark’s work employing Raman microscopy changed the thinking of art historians and conservators on much artwork and many archaeological artifacts. His identification of the blue pigment on the priceless Lindisfarne Gospels (715 AD) in the British Library as solely indigo, not lazurite, removed the need for the then (2004) current but improbable proposition that trade in lazurite from Afghanistan to Northumbria existed in 715 AD; in fact we know from Clark’s work that it was not established until more than two centuries later. The identification of key pigments on "Young Woman Seated on a Virginal" provided persuasive evidence consistent with a reattribution of this painting to Vermeer, in consequence of which it was sold in London for 30 million dollars in 2004. However, many Egyptian papyri supposedly worth $3 million each and dating to 1250 BC were easily identified to have been illuminated with at least 7 modern pigments, including copper phthalocyanine blue (first made in Manchester in 1936); they thus proved to be virtually worthless. Robin Clark was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society in 2010. He died in London on December 6, 2018 at the age of 83. | |
| 2 | Name: | Dr. William Timothy Gowers | | | Institution: | University of Cambridge & Trinity College | | | Year Elected: | 2010 | | | Class: | 1. Mathematical and Physical Sciences | | | Subdivision: | 104. Mathematics | | | Residency: | International | | | Living? : |
Living
| | | Birth Date: | 1963 | | | | | | |
Early in his career, Timothy Gowers did outstanding work in abstract Banach space theory, a theory which involves sets which are operators or functions. In a series of brilliant papers, he solved several long-standing problems, introducing extensive use of methods from combinatorial number theory. One of his surprising results is the construction of a Banach space with almost no symmetry. He is now better known to the broad mathematical community by his later work in combinatorial number theory. His very original ideas (for example "Gowers norms"), led to a new proof of Szmeredi's theorem, which concerns the occurrence of arithmetic progressions in sets of integers. His ideas have led to many breakthroughs in the field, in particular concerning the occurrence of arithmetic progressions in the primes (a longstanding conjecture of Erdos and now a theorem of Gowers’ students Ben Green and Terry Tao.) He continues to lead the research in this combinatorial number theory, which is now having impact on and benefiting computer science. Gowers has also put much effort into bringing mathematics to the public in his writing which includes his book Mathematics: A Very Short Introduction (2002) and his many public lectures. He recently organized the writing of The Princeton Companion to Mathematics (2008). This is a book of over 1,000 pages, incorporating sections by over 100 of the world's best mathematicians. It is aimed at giving anyone with some undergraduate training in mathematics a taste of current knowledge in all of modern mathematics. This kind of contribution, by one of the world's leading researchers at the height of his productive years, is very unusual. | |
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