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Oliver Heaviside

The Life, Work, and Times of an Electrical Genius of the Victorian Age

Paul J. Nahin

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Acclaimed biography of the pioneer of modern electrical theory featuring a new preface by author.

"He was a man who often was incapable of conducting himself properly in the most elementary social interactions. His only continuing contacts with women were limited to his mother, nieces, and housekeepers. He was a man who knew the power of money and desired it, but refused to work for it, preferring to live off the sweat of his family and long-suffering friends, whom he often insulted even as they paid his bills."—Excerpt from the book

This, then, was Oliver Heaviside, a pioneer of modern...

Acclaimed biography of the pioneer of modern electrical theory featuring a new preface by author.

"He was a man who often was incapable of conducting himself properly in the most elementary social interactions. His only continuing contacts with women were limited to his mother, nieces, and housekeepers. He was a man who knew the power of money and desired it, but refused to work for it, preferring to live off the sweat of his family and long-suffering friends, whom he often insulted even as they paid his bills."—Excerpt from the book

This, then, was Oliver Heaviside, a pioneer of modern electrical theory. Born into a low social class of Victorian England, Heaviside made advances in mathematics by introducing the operational calculus; in physics, where he formulated the modern-day expressions of Maxwell's Laws of electromagnetism; and in electrical engineering, through his duplex equations. With a new preface by the author, this acclaimed biography will appeal to historians of technology and science, as well as to scientists and engineers who wish to learn more about this remarkable man.

Reviews

Reviews

How was it that a man who had no formal education after the age of sixteen could apply operational calculus to technological problems in a way that other eminent mathematical physicists had not? Why was a charged layer of the ionosphere named after him? The best way to gain an insight into the life and work of this eccentric genius will be to delve into this delightful book.

A good book by a careful, historically minded engineer... A lively, informative narrative of Heaviside's life and work. Nahin has exhaustively resurveyed archives and contemporary sources and is very much at home in historical discussions of Victorian physics.

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Book Details

Publication Date
Status
Available
Trim Size
7
x
10
Pages
360
ISBN
9780801869099
Illustration Description
49 halftones, 13 line drawings
Table of Contents

Preface to the Johns Hopkins Edition
Preface to the Original Edition
A Note of Mathematics
A Note of References
A Note on Money
Acknowledgements
Chapter 1. The Origins of Heaviside
Chapter 2. The Early Years

Preface to the Johns Hopkins Edition
Preface to the Original Edition
A Note of Mathematics
A Note of References
A Note on Money
Acknowledgements
Chapter 1. The Origins of Heaviside
Chapter 2. The Early Years
Chapter 3. The First Theory of the Electric Telegraph
Chapter 4. Heaviside's Early Telegraphy Work
Chapter 5. The Scienticulist
Chapter 6. Maxwell's Electricity
Chapter 7. Heaviside's Electrodynamics
Chapter 8. The Battle With Preece
Chapter 9. The Great Quarterionic War
Chapter 10. Strange Mathematics
Chapter 11. The Age-of-the-Earth Controversy
Chapter 12. The Final Years of the Hermit
Chapter 13. Epilogue
Notes and References
Index
Credits

Author Bio
Paul J. Nahin
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Paul J. Nahin

Paul J. Nahin is professor emeritus of electrical and computer engineering at the University of New Hampshire and the author of several books, including Mrs. Perkin's Electric Quilt and Other Intriguing Stories of Mathematical Physics, Chases and Escapes: The Mathematics of Pursuit and Evasion, and Oliver Heaviside: The Life, Work, and Times of an Electrical Genius of the Victorian Age, the last...