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George
Boole was born on 2nd November, 1815 on Silver Street, Lincoln.
The house where he was brought up is now a solicitor's office. His
father, John, was a shoemaker and consequently the family was not
affluent.
John
Boole had a fine mind and a keen interest in science and mathematics.
He shared this passion with his son and by an early age George was
solving complex mathematical problems.
Boole
soon had a reputation as a child genius - and not only in the sciences.
He soon surpassed his father's knowledge of Latin and a local bookseller
became his tutor. By the age of 12 George was translating extensive
Latin texts.
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| Boole's
House in Pottergate, Lincoln |
His
family did not have enough money for George to enter a grammar school
and so he attended a school on Michaelgate. By the age of 16 Boole
was assisting in the lessons and at 20 he had
opened his own school and was supporting his family.
George
worked in various schools around the country and in 1849 he became
a professor of Mathematics at Queen's College, Cork (later to become
the University of Cork). He settled into life in Ireland and was
well liked by colleagues and students. He stayed there until his
death and in 1851 was made Dean of Science.
George
Boole's most important paper was published in 1854 and had the catchy
title "An Investigation Into the Laws of Thought, on Which
are Founded the Mathematical Theories of Logic and Probabilities".
This was the paper in which he detailed the relationship between
algebra and logic, and it is this study on which much of today's
computer technology is based.
His
research and writing continued alongside his teaching and in 1857
he became a Fellow of the Royal Society.
Boole
died on 8th December, 1864. His health had been of concern for some
time and he suffered from an hereditary lung disease. One November
day he walked to school in the pouring rain and proceeded to teach
in wet clothes. As a result he contracted a chest infection which
ultimately turned into pneumonia.
It
has been suggested that his condition was made worse by his wife's
attempts to help him. She subscribed to the widely held view that
the cure should match the cause and so while Boole took to his bed,
she threw buckets of cold water over him.
A memorial
to Boole can be seen in Lincoln Cathedral. The Teaching Window is
dedicated to him and depicts his favourite passage from the Bible
- the calling of Samuel.
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