Alfred Kempe
| Sir Alfred Kempe | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born |
July 7, 1849 Kensington, London, England |
| Died | April 21, 1922 (aged 72) London, England |
| Influenced | Charles Sanders Peirce |
Sir Alfred Bray Kempe D.C.L. F.R.S. (6 July 1849, Kensington, London – 21 April 1922, London) was a mathematician best known for his work on linkages and the four color theorem.
Kempe studied at Trinity College, Cambridge where Arthur Cayley was one of his teachers. He graduated BA (22nd wrangler) in 1872. Despite his interest in mathematics he became a barrister, specializing in the ecclesiastical law. He was knighted in 1913, the same year he became the Chancellor for the Diocese of London. He received the honorary degree D.C.L. from the University of Durham.
In 1876 he published his article On a General Method of describing Plane Curves of the nth degree by Linkwork, which showed that for an arbitrary algebraic plane curve a linkage can be constructed that draws the curve. This direct connection between linkages and algebraic curves was recently named the Kempe's universality theorem that any bounded subset of an algebraic curve may be traced out by the motion of one of the joints in a suitably chosen linkage. Kempe's proof was flawed, and the first complete proof was provided in 2002, based on his ideas.
In 1877 Kempe discovered new straight line linkages and published his influential lectures on the subject. In 1879 Kempe wrote his famous "proof" of the four color theorem, shown incorrect by Percy Heawood in 1890. Much later, his work led to fundamental concepts such as the Kempe chain and unavoidable sets.
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