Henry John Stephen Smith
| Henry John Stephen Smith | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
2 November 1826 Dublin, Ireland |
| Died | 9 February 1883 (aged 56) Oxford, Oxfordshire, England |
| Fields | Mathematics |
| Institutions | University of Oxford |
| Alma mater | Balliol College, Oxford |
| Known for |
Smith–Minkowski–Siegel mass formula Smith normal form |
Henry John Stephen Smith (2 November 1826 – 9 February 1883) was a mathematician remembered for his work in elementary divisors, quadratic forms, and Smith–Minkowski–Siegel mass formula in number theory. In matrix theory he is visible today in having his name on the Smith normal form of a matrix.
Smith was born in Dublin, Ireland, the fourth child of John Smith, a barrister, who died when Henry was two. His mother very soon afterwards moved the family to England. He lived in several places in England as a boy, and had private tutors for his education. His mother did not send him to school but educated him herself until age 11, at which point she hired private tutors. At age 15 Smith was admitted in 1841 to Rugby School in Warwickshire, where Thomas Arnold was the school's headmaster. This came about because his tutor Henry Highton took up a housemaster position there.
At 19 he won an entrance scholarship to Balliol College, Oxford. He graduated in 1849 with high honours in both mathematics and classics. Smith was fluent in French having spent holidays in France, and he took classes in mathematics at the Sorbonne in Paris during the 1846–7 academic year.
Smith remained at Balliol College as a mathematics tutor following his graduation in 1849 and was soon promoted to Fellow status. In 1861, he was promoted to the Savilian Chair of Geometry at Oxford. In 1873, he was made the beneficiary of a fellowship at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, and gave up teaching at Balliol.
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