Featured Memoir
Garrett Birkhoff by Jerry Bona and Peter Olver
“Garrett Birkhoff was a leading figure in the field of abstract algebra, including the development of lattice theory and universal algebra. Later in his career, he did groundbreaking work in the early use of the electronic computer, the applications of Lie groups to differential equations, particularly those arising in fluid mechanics, and numerical methods for linear algebra and the solution of elliptic partial differential equations. ”
About the Series
Published since 1877, Biographical Memoirs provide the life histories and selected bibliographies of deceased National Academy of Sciences members. Colleagues familiar with the subject’s work write these memoirs and as such, the series provides a biographical history of science in America.
The Online Collection includes approximately 1,900 memoirs, including those of famed naturalist Louis Agassiz; Joseph Henry, the first secretary of the Smithsonian Institution; Thomas Edison; Alexander Graham Bell; noted anthropologist Margaret Mead; and psychologist and philosopher John Dewey.
View the current list of Biographical Memoirs or search for specific memoirs: