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Edwin Elliott
Times obituary
"THE ALGEBRA OF QUANTICS"
Professor E. B. Elliott, F.R.S., Emeritus Professor of Pure Mathematics at Oxford, died at Oxford on Wednesday in his 87th year. He was for many years an important figure in Oxford, not merely as Waynflete Professor of Mathematics and as the author of "The Algebra of Quantics," but as one of the leading authorities on the finance of the university.
Born at Oxford on June 1, 1851, the son of Mr. Edwin Litchfield Elliott, Edwin Bailey Elliott was educated at Magdalen College School and Magdalen College. His mathematical abilities were at once con-spicuous, and he took first classes in Moderations in 1872 and in the Final School in the following year. He followed up these successes with his election to a Fellowship at Queen's College in 1874 and to the Senior Mathematical Scholarship in 1875. He remained a Fellow and Mathematical Tutor at Queen's until his appointment as Waynfict Professor and Fellow of Magdalen in 1892; he had been lecturer in mathematics at Corpus Christi College from 1884. He was elected an honorary Fellow of Queen's College in 1916
As a teacher, he found his chief satisfaction in being of use to others and was unsparing in his help and encouragement, not only to his more promising pupils but to some very poor mathematicians. He also worked at investigation and research at a time when it was rarer than it is now—largely owing to Elliott's influence, and the earlier volumes of the London Mathematical Society contain a number of his papers. His great work, "The Algebra of Quantics," is a systematic account of the theory of invariants, first published in 1895 and in a second edition in 1913. In this, he gave a lucid account of the work of Cayley, Sylvester, and others and added to it much new matter resulting from his own investigations: the book is the classic English work on the subject.
As a professor, he continued to give the same ready help to younger dons and teachers that he had formerly given to his pupils, and almost all Oxford mathematicians would acknowledge their debt to him. On his retirement from the professorship in 1921, after nearly 30 years of service, he was given the title of Emeritus Professor.
Elliott was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1891 and had served on its council; he was also for many years a member of the Council of the London Mathematical Society and at one time its president. In Oxford, he was for a long period a member of the Oxford Mathematical Council and one of the Curators of the University Chest. He was also a Visitor of the University Observatory and a Delegate of Non-Collegiate Students. But he was chiefly known as a financier whose strength lay in detail rather than in matters of policy; he was always ready to take endless trouble in preparing or checking figures, but seldom took the lead in new proposals. The University owes him a great debt for many years of long and patient work.
Naturally modest and retiring. Elliott made no claim to recognition, but all who worked with him either in mathematics or in university business will feel that they have lost a loyal and devoted friend, always ready to sink himself in the advantage of others.
He married, in 1893, Charlotte Amelia, daughter of Mr. J. W. Mawer, of Oxford; she died last May.
The funeral service will be in Magdalen College Chapel on Saturday at 2:45, and the interment will be in Holywell Cemetery
"THE ALGEBRA OF QUANTICS"
Professor E. B. Elliott, F.R.S., Emeritus Professor of Pure Mathematics at Oxford, died at Oxford on Wednesday in his 87th year. He was for many years an important figure in Oxford, not merely as Waynflete Professor of Mathematics and as the author of "The Algebra of Quantics," but as one of the leading authorities on the finance of the university.
Born at Oxford on June 1, 1851, the son of Mr. Edwin Litchfield Elliott, Edwin Bailey Elliott was educated at Magdalen College School and Magdalen College. His mathematical abilities were at once con-spicuous, and he took first classes in Moderations in 1872 and in the Final School in the following year. He followed up these successes with his election to a Fellowship at Queen's College in 1874 and to the Senior Mathematical Scholarship in 1875. He remained a Fellow and Mathematical Tutor at Queen's until his appointment as Waynfict Professor and Fellow of Magdalen in 1892; he had been lecturer in mathematics at Corpus Christi College from 1884. He was elected an honorary Fellow of Queen's College in 1916
As a teacher, he found his chief satisfaction in being of use to others and was unsparing in his help and encouragement, not only to his more promising pupils but to some very poor mathematicians. He also worked at investigation and research at a time when it was rarer than it is now—largely owing to Elliott's influence, and the earlier volumes of the London Mathematical Society contain a number of his papers. His great work, "The Algebra of Quantics," is a systematic account of the theory of invariants, first published in 1895 and in a second edition in 1913. In this, he gave a lucid account of the work of Cayley, Sylvester, and others and added to it much new matter resulting from his own investigations: the book is the classic English work on the subject.
As a professor, he continued to give the same ready help to younger dons and teachers that he had formerly given to his pupils, and almost all Oxford mathematicians would acknowledge their debt to him. On his retirement from the professorship in 1921, after nearly 30 years of service, he was given the title of Emeritus Professor.
Elliott was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1891 and had served on its council; he was also for many years a member of the Council of the London Mathematical Society and at one time its president. In Oxford, he was for a long period a member of the Oxford Mathematical Council and one of the Curators of the University Chest. He was also a Visitor of the University Observatory and a Delegate of Non-Collegiate Students. But he was chiefly known as a financier whose strength lay in detail rather than in matters of policy; he was always ready to take endless trouble in preparing or checking figures, but seldom took the lead in new proposals. The University owes him a great debt for many years of long and patient work.
Naturally modest and retiring. Elliott made no claim to recognition, but all who worked with him either in mathematics or in university business will feel that they have lost a loyal and devoted friend, always ready to sink himself in the advantage of others.
He married, in 1893, Charlotte Amelia, daughter of Mr. J. W. Mawer, of Oxford; she died last May.
The funeral service will be in Magdalen College Chapel on Saturday at 2:45, and the interment will be in Holywell Cemetery
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