Edward Linfoot
| Edward Hubert Linfoot | |
|---|---|
| Born |
8 June 1905 Sheffield |
| Died | 14 October 1982 (aged 77) Cambridge |
| Nationality | British |
| Alma mater | University of Oxford |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Mathematics, Astronomy, Optics |
| Institutions |
University of Bristol University of Cambridge |
| Doctoral advisor | G. H. Hardy |
| Doctoral students | Emil Wolf |
Edward Hubert Linfoot was a British mathematician, primarily known for his work on optics, but also noted for his work in pure mathematics.
Edward Linfoot was born in Sheffield, England, in 1905. He was the eldest child of George Edward Linfoot, a violinist and mathematician, and George's wife Laura, née Clayton. After attending King Edward VII School he won a scholarship to Balliol College at the University of Oxford.
During his time at Oxford he met the number theorist G. H. Hardy, and after graduating in 1926, Linfoot completed a D.Phil under the supervision of Hardy with a thesis entitled Applications of the Theory of Functions of a Complex Variable.
After brief stints at the University of Göttingen, Princeton University, and Balliol College, Linfoot took a job in 1932 as assistant lecturer, and later lecturer, at the University of Bristol. During the 1930s Linfoot's interests slowly made the transition from pure mathematics to the application of mathematics to the study of optics, but not before proving an important result in number theory with Hans Heilbronn, that there are at most ten imaginary quadratic number fields with class number 1.
The exact reasons that Linfoot chose to switch his research from pure mathematics to optics are complex and there is probably no single most important reason. John Bell has highlighted the role played by Linfoot's political awareness, in particular his relationship with Heilbronn who had been forced to flee Nazi Germany. Suspecting a second world war was imminent, and knowing his delicate constitution would not make it through military physical examinations, Linfoot decided to contribute to the future war with scientific advancements in the field of optics. Other contributing factors to this change in focus were his lifelong fondness for astronomy and, by Linfoot's own testimony, a feeling that he had reached the limits of his pure mathematical creativity.
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