Arthur Cayley

Arthur Cayley (August 16 1821 - January 26 1895) was a British mathematician. He helped found the modern British school of pure mathematics.

Related Topics:
August 16 - 1821 - January 26 - 1895 - Mathematician - Pure mathematics

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As a child, Cayley enjoyed solving complex math problems for amusement. At eighteen, he entered Trinity College, Cambridge, where he excelled in Greek, French, German, and Italian, as well as mathematics.

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Cayley worked as a lawyer for 14 years, but that is not what he is remembered for. While he was a lawyer he published about 250 research papers in mathematics, and later, while Sadleirian Professor at Cambridge, he published another 650. It was Cayley who first introduced matrix multiplication. He was consequently able to prove the Cayley-Hamilton theorem -- that every square matrix is a root of its own characteristic polynomial. He was the first to define the concept of a group in the modern way -- as a set with a binary operation satisfying certain laws. Formerly, when mathematicians spoke of "groups", they had meant permutation groups.

Related Topics:
Sadleirian Professor - Cambridge - Matrix multiplication - Cayley-Hamilton theorem - Group - Permutation group

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See also Cayley's theorem.

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