Scottish mathematical physicist (1831-1901) who, with chemist Alexander Crum Brown, produced the first systematic tables of alternating knots (1876-77) at Lord Kelvin's urging -- work that followed, rather than merely illustrated, Tait's own 1867 smoke-ring demonstration of Helmholtz's vortex-ring theory, the experiment that had inspired Kelvin's vortex atom theory in the first place. Also a leading expositor of quaternions and, with Kelvin, co-author of the Treatise on Natural Philosophy.
Facts
BirthplaceDalkeith, Midlothian, Scotland 2 Nationality / Culture Defining ContributionBuilt the smoke-ring apparatus that experimentally verified Helmholtz's 1858 vortex-ring theory in 1867, the demonstration that inspired Lord Kelvin's vortex atom theory; Kelvin then urged Tait, with Alexander Crum Brown, to classify knots as a framework for that theory, producing the first systematic tables of alternating knots up to 11 crossings (1876-77) by geometric intuition Tait himself called "tentative," yet accurate. Foundational to knot theory as a mathematical discipline, independent of the vortex atom theory itself, which was later abandoned. 2 Notable WorkElementary Treatise on Quaternions (1867) 1 Notable WorkFirst systematic tables of alternating knots to 11 crossings (1876-77); the three Tait conjectures on alternating knots later drawn from this work, all eventually proven, the last (the flyping conjecture) in 1991 1 Notable WorkTreatise on Natural Philosophy (1867, with Lord Kelvin) 1 AwardSmith's Prize (1852, senior wrangler and first Smith's prizeman) 1 Connections
Associated With
Source Peter Guthrie Tait, Biography (MacTutor History of Mathematics)
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Sources
1. Peter Guthrie Tait (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationLead section, gender referenceQuote, Lead section, gender reference
He is best known for the mathematical physics textbook Treatise on Natural Philosophy, which he co-wrote with Lord Kelvin, and his early investigations into knot theory.
2. Peter Guthrie Tait, Biography (MacTutor History of Mathematics)
MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive, University of St Andrews
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