In the history of mathematics, John Horton Conway is one of the names that keeps returning.
The record lists John Horton Conway as English mathematician (1937–2020).
John Horton Conway was born at Liverpool in 1937. His recorded nationality is United Kingdom. He studied at University of Cambridge and Gonville and Caius College.
Twentieth-century mathematics became abstract and highly specialised, and its methods reached into physics, economics and computing.
His academic posts were held at Princeton University and University of Cambridge.
The recorded fields of work are group theory, combinatorial game theory and mathematics.
Among his principal contributions are Conway's Game of Life, Conway group and surreal number. Mathematical work is judged by whether anyone can build on it, and that judgement takes decades.
Recognition followed: Fellow of the Royal Society (1981), Pólya Prize (1987), Berwick Prize (1971) and Nemmers Prize in Mathematics (1998).
That the work was done from United Kingdom matters: mathematical training, institutions and the language of publication have never been evenly distributed.
John Horton Conway died in 2020, aged 83. The proofs remain, and a proof does not decay - which is the particular permanence mathematics offers.
Achievements
- Fellow of the Royal Society — 1981
- Pólya Prize — 1987
- Berwick Prize — 1971
- Nemmers Prize in Mathematics — 1998
- Steele Prize for Mathematical Exposition — 2000
- Notable work: Conway's Game of Life
- Notable work: Conway group
- Notable work: surreal number
- Notable work: Conway chained arrow notation
- Held posts at Princeton University and University of Cambridge
