George Boole's Impact on Mathematics

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“He had a better mind and a more rigorous temperament than me; he thought logically, and then acted on the conclusion of logical thought. Whereas most of us, I suspect, do the opposite: we make an instinctive decision, then build up an infrastructure of reasoning to justify it. And call the result common sense.” This quote, by Julian Barnes, embodies the reason George Boole was my choice for my mathematician. I have always been fascinated by logic and reasoning, possibly because I constantly find myself in arguments which I prefer to call friendly debates. The first thing I did to determine my mathematician was turn to Amazon to find a good short book that I might find interesting from any of the options. After stumbling upon "The Mathematical Analysis of Logic: Being an essay towards a calculus of deductive reasoning" I realized I had found my Mathematician. George Boole was a highly influential logical mathematician who transcended mathematics and tied it into everything around us.

Mr. Boole was born 1815 in Lincolnshire, England. His father was a shoemaker by trade but known for having a passion for reading about science and technology, in this case the apple didn't fall far from the tree. Coming from a family with little means George didn't get a what one would call a top notch formal education, but he gain great knowledge from his father and the books he went on to read. Boole started working at age 16 as a school teacher and opened up his own school at 19. In 1849 he went on to become a professor at the newly created Queens University in Cork, Ireland. He was expected at an early age to help support his family and all while doing so became an esteemed mathematician and logician. In 1855 he married Mary Everest, the daught...

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...in symbolic logic. George passed too early to really see the full effects of his discovery's, technology has really been the big benefactor from Mr. Boole's work. Boolean algebra was used for electrical switch circuits in the 1930's, its the basis for all modern computer logic, he also has a center for research named after him at the University of College Cork.

Looking back at the impact of Mr. George Boole, we see how great of an impact he has made on the world we live in today. We have seen above why George was such an influential mathematician from being the first mathematician to win a Gold Medal from the Royal Society, to developing theories which would shape modern technology and computer logic. Coming from modest means, Boole epitomizes how sheer will and knowledge can overcome poverty to become one of the greatest mathematicians and logicians of all time.

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