Mathematician:Josiah Willard Gibbs

Mathematician

American scientist who made important theoretical contributions to physics, chemistry, and mathematics.

Also well-known for his work in statistical mechanics.

One of the students of Karl Weierstrass, under whom he studied analysis in $1868$.

Much of the chemical industry of the U.S. is directly dependent upon the work he did.

Nationality

American

History

• Born: 11 February 1839 in New Haven, Connecticut, USA
• 1854: Entered Yale
• 1858: Graduated from Yale, continued studies at New Haven
• 1863: Obtained Ph.D. from New Haven, appointed Tutor at Yale
• 1866: Visited Europe
• 1866 -- 67: Studied at Paris
• 1867 -- 69: Studied at Berlin and Heidelberg
• 1869: Returned to New Haven
• 1871: Appointed to Professorship at Yale
• Died: 28 April 1903 in New Haven, Connecticut, USA

Theorems and Definitions

• Gibbs Phenomenon
• Gibbs Sampler

• Wilbraham-Gibbs Constant (independently of Henry Wilbraham)

Results named for Josiah Willard Gibbs can be found here.

Definitions of concepts named for Josiah Willard Gibbs can be found here.

Publications

• 1873: Graphical Methods in the Thermodynamics of Fluids
• 1873: A Method of Geometrical Representation of the Thermodynamic Properties of Substances by Means of Surfaces
• 1876: On the Equilibrium of Heterogeneous Substances (part 1)
• 1878: On the Equilibrium of Heterogeneous Substances (part 2)
• 1881: Elements of Vector Analysis

• 1891: Quaternions and the Ausdehnungslehre (Nature Vol. 44: pp. 79 – 82)
• 1899: Fourier Series (Nature Vol. 59: p. 200)
• 1899: Fourier Series (Nature Vol. 59: p. 606)

• 1901: Vector Analysis (with Edwin Bidwell Wilson)
  • 1929: Vector Analysis, 2nd ed. (with Edwin Bidwell Wilson)

Sources

• John J. O'Connor and Edmund F. Robertson: "Josiah Willard Gibbs": MacTutor History of Mathematics archive

• 1921: C.E. Weatherburn: Elementary Vector Analysis ... (previous) ... (next): Historical Introduction
• 1992: George F. Simmons: Calculus Gems ... (previous) ... (next): Chapter $\text {A}.33$: Weierstrass ($\text {1815}$ – $\text {1897}$)
• 1998: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Gibbs, Josiah Willard (1839-1903)
• 2008: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (4th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Gibbs, Josiah Willard (1839-1903)