Ada Maddison
| Ada Isabel Maddison | |
|---|---|
| Born |
12 April 1869 Cumberland, England |
| Died | 22 October 1950 (aged 81) Pennsylvania, US |
| Nationality | British |
| Fields | Mathematics |
| Institutions | Bryn Mawr |
| Alma mater | Bryn Mawr |
| Thesis | On Singular Solutions of Differential Equations of the First Order in Two Variables and the Geometrical Properties of Certain Invariants and Covariants of Their Complete Primitives (1896) |
| Doctoral advisor | Charlotte Scott |
| Known for | differential equations |
Ada Isabel Maddison (1869 – 1950) British mathematician best known for her work on differential equations.
Isabel Maddison entered University College in Cardiff in 1885. She was awarded a Clothworker's Guild Scholarship to study at Girton College, Cambridge, where she matriculated in 1889. A fellow student who matriculated at Girton at the same time as Maddison was Grace Chisholm (later Grace Chisholm Young). Maddison attended lectures at Cambridge by Cayley, Whitehead and Young. In 1892 Maddison passed the Cambridge Mathematical Tripos Exam earning a First Class degree, equal to the twenty-seventh Wrangler, but she was not allowed to receive a degree, as, at this time, women could not formally receive a degree at Cambridge. Instead, she was awarded the degree of Bachelor of Science with Honors from the University of London in 1893. Her fellow student Grace Chisholm also earned a First Class degree in the same Mathematical Tripos examinations.
On completing her studies at Cambridge, Maddison was awarded a scholarship which enabled her to spend the year 1892–93 at Bryn Mawr College. There she undertook research under the direction of Charlotte Scott, the first woman to earn a First Class degree at Cambridge (in 1880). Maddison was awarded the resident mathematics fellowship, and then a Mary E. Garrett Fellowship for study abroad. She used the latter to study at the University of Göttingen in the academic year 1893-1894,where she attended lectures by Felix Klein and David Hilbert. Right before that, in 1893, Maddison sat the University of London exams, and as a result was awarded a BSc with Honors. She received her PhD from Bryn Mawr in 1896.
Maddison had, like Scott, become interested in linear algebra through the influence of Cayley at Cambridge. When she first reached Bryn Mawr College, Maddison continued to work on this topic but later, advised by Scott, she began to work on singular solutions of differential equations. Although she had earned the equivalent of a First Class degree at Cambridge, Maddison still had no degree so she took the external examinations of the University of London in 1893 which allowed her to graduate with a BSc with honours. Bryn Mawr College awarded her their Residential Mathematical Fellowship which funded her studies for the year 1893–94. She was next awarded the Mary E. Garrett European Fellowship, which enabled her to spend 1894–95 at Göttingen in Germany. There she met again Grace Chisholm, who was studying for her doctorate under Klein. Maddison attended lectures by Klein, Hilbert, and Burkhardt during her year at Göttingen where she played a full part in the exciting mathematical atmosphere of the department.
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