Percy John Heawood was a British mathematician who concentrated on graph colouring. Born in 1861, he studied at Exeter College, Oxford, and spent his academic career at Durham University, where he became lecturer in 1885, professor in 1910 and Vice-Chancellor from 1926 to 1928. In 1890 he exposed a flaw in Alfred Kempe's proof of the four colour theorem, which had been considered valid for eleven years, and established the weaker five colour theorem. He also studied colouring of maps on higher surfaces, and was awarded an OBE for his part in raising funds to save Durham Castle.
Facts
Connections
Attributed Works
Source Heawood Graph (Wikipedia)
In Branch
Source Wikipedia: Percy John Heawood
Principal Result
Source Heawood Graph (Wikipedia)
Proofs Credited
Source Five color theorem (Wikipedia)
In the Other Atlases
Nationality
Also in Geography Atlas: the nationality of this subject.
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Percy John Heawood
2. MacTutor History of Mathematics, University of St Andrews: Percy John Heawood
MacTutor History of Mathematics, University of St AndrewsQuick Info: BornQuote, Quick Info: Born
8 September 1861
Heawood Graph (Wikipedia)
Principal Result: Heawood Graph, Lead sentence of the article on the result
In the mathematical field of graph theory, the Heawood graph is an undirected graph with 14 vertices and 21 edges, named after Percy John Heawood.
Attributed Works: Heawood Graph, Lead
The map and graph were discovered by Percy John Heawood in 1890, who proved that no map on the torus could require more than seven colors and thus this map is maximal.
View the SourceFive color theorem (Wikipedia)
Proofs Credited: Five Color Theorem, Lead sentence, attributionQuote, Proofs Credited: Five Color Theorem, Lead sentence, attribution
first proved by Percy John Heawood in 1890
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