W. V. D. Hodge

British mathematician

Sir William Vallance Douglas Hodge [2] (/hɒ/; 17 June 1903 – 7 July 1975 G) was a geometer.[3][4]


W. V. D. Hodge
Born(1903-06-17)17 June 1903
Died7 July 1975(1975-07-07) (aged 72)
NationalityBritish
EducationGeorge Watson's College
Alma materUniversity of Edinburgh
St John's College, Cambridge[1]
Known forHodge conjecture
Hodge dual
Hodge bundle
Hodge theory
AwardsAdams Prize (1936)
Senior Berwick Prize (1952)
Royal Medal (1957)
De Morgan Medal (1959)
Copley Medal (1974)
Scientific career
FieldsMathematics
InstitutionsPembroke College, Cambridge
Academic advisorsE. T. Whittaker
Doctoral studentsMichael Atiyah
Ian R. Porteous
David J. Simms
Hodge's home at 1 Church Hill Place, Edinburgh

Works change

He discovered deep topological relations between algebraic and differential geometry. This is an area of harmonics now called Hodge theory. It is used in manifolds. It had big sway in academic geometry for several generations of mathematics education.

Related pages change

References change

  1. Hodge biography - University of St Andrews
  2. Atiyah, M. F. (1976). "William Vallance Douglas Hodge. 17 June 1903 -- 7 July 1975". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 22: 169–192. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1976.0007. S2CID 72054846.
  3. O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "W. V. D. Hodge", MacTutor History of Mathematics archive, University of St Andrews.
  4. W. V. D. Hodge at the Mathematics Genealogy Project