Abstract
THE appointment earlier this year of Prof. L. J. Mordell to the Sadleirian chair of pure mathematics in the University of Cambridge is a reminder that Prof. G. H. Hardy retired from the Sadleirian chair so long ago as 1942. Throughout his long career as lecturer at Trinity College, Cambridge, during 1906–19, as Savilian professor of geometry at Oxford during 1919–31, and as Sadleirian professor of pure mathematics at Cambridge from 1931 until his retirement in 1942, Prof. Hardy has been a leader of mathematical thought. Forty years ago, mathematical analysis was neglected in England. To-day the English school of analysts commands respect and admiration throughout the world. This development is due almost entirely to Hardy, by the direct inspiration of his own teaching and personality, and through the medium of successive generations of his pupils. An important part was played, particularly in the early stages, by his stimulating book “A Course of Pure Mathematics”, first published in 1908 and now in its ninth edition. But it is not possible in this short note to attempt any proper appreciation of the great volume of Hardy's original work, or to recount the imposing list of his collaborators. Chief among these is his former pupil, J. E. Littlewood, who has been a constant partner since about 1912.
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Prof. G. H. Hardy, F.R.S.. Nature 156, 76 (1945). https://doi.org/10.1038/156076a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/156076a0