George B. Mathews

George Ballard Mathews, FRS (23 February 1861 — 19 March 1922) was an English mathematician.

He was born in London. He studied at the Ludlow Grammar School which had instruction in Hebrew and Sanscrit as well as in Greek and Latin. He proceeded to University College, London where Olaus Henrici made him "realise that mathematics is an inductive science, not a set of rules and formulae." He then took up preparation for Cambridge Mathematical Tripos under the guidance of William Henry Besant. He came out Senior Wrangler for 1883. He was elected a Fellow of St John's College.

In 1884 University College of North Wales was established under Principal Harry Reichel and Mathews as professor of mathematics. He taught alongside Andrew Gray, James Johnston Dobbie and Henry Stuart Jones. There he produced his first textbook Theory of Numbers. Part I (1892), an introduction to number theory. (It is likely that the book was studied by Ramanujan before he left for England in 1914.) In 1896, discouraged at the preparation and dedication of students, Mathews resigned and moved to Cambridge.

Mathews was elected to the Royal Society in 1897. He worked as University Lecturer at Cambridge University. In 1906 he resigned from Cambridge.

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