John Horton Conway was an English mathematician who worked across an unusually wide range of fields, including finite group theory, knot theory, number theory and coding theory. While analyzing the endgames of the board game Go at Cambridge in the early 1970s, he discovered that certain games behave like numbers, leading him to invent the surreal numbers and the field of combinatorial game theory, published as On Numbers and Games in 1976. He also invented the cellular automaton Conway's Game of Life, popularized in Martin Gardner's October 1970 Scientific American column.
Facts
BirthplaceLiverpool, England, United Kingdom 2 Death PlacePrinceton, New Jersey, United States 2 Nationality / Culture Defining ContributionInvented the surreal numbers and combinatorial game theory through his analysis of Go endgames at Cambridge, published as On Numbers and Games in 1976. 3 Notable WorkConway's Game of Life (1970), popularized in Martin Gardner's October 1970 Scientific American column 2 Notable WorkOn Numbers and Games (1976) 3 Notable WorkWinning Ways for Your Mathematical Plays (1982, with Elwyn Berlekamp and Richard Guy) 2 Connections
Associated With
Source MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive
Attributed Works
Source Conway knot (Wikipedia)
Source Conway's Game of Life (Wikipedia)
Conjectures Posed
In Branch
Source Conway, On Numbers and Games (1976)John H. Conway
Source MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive
Namesake Of
Proofs Credited
Source 15 and 290 theorems (Wikipedia)
Source Conway circle theorem (Wikipedia)
In the Other Atlases
Nationality
Also in Geography Atlas: the nationality of this subject.
Sources
1. Wikipedia: John Conway
WikipediaLead section, gender referenceQuote, Lead section, gender reference
He was active in the theory of finite groups, knot theory, number theory, combinatorial game theory and coding theory.
2. MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive
University of St Andrews, School of Mathematics and Statisticshttps://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Conway/Quote, https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Conway/
John Conway was an English mathematician who has produced many results in the theory of finite groups, knot theory, number theory, combinatorial game theory and coding theory.
3. Conway, On Numbers and Games (1976)
John H. Conway, Academic Press, 1976
Conway knot (Wikipedia)
Attributed Works: Conway knot, Lead paragraphQuote, Attributed Works: Conway knot, Lead paragraph
50 years after Conway first proposed the knot
15 and 290 theorems (Wikipedia)
Proofs Credited: 15 and 290 Theorems, Lead sentence, attributionQuote, Proofs Credited: 15 and 290 Theorems, Lead sentence, attribution
proved by John H. Conway and W. A. Schneeberger in 1993
Conway's Game of Life (Wikipedia)
Attributed Works: Conway's Game of Life, LeadQuote, Attributed Works: Conway's Game of Life, Lead
The Game of Life, also known as Conway's Game of Life (sometimes abbreviated as CGoL) or simply Life, is a cellular automaton devised by the British mathematician John Horton Conway in 1970.
Conway circle theorem (Wikipedia)
Proofs Credited: Conway Circle Theorem, Lead sectionQuote, Proofs Credited: Conway Circle Theorem, Lead section
The theorem and circle are named after mathematician John Horton Conway.
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