William Pitt Durfee

William Pitt Durfee
Born	(1855-02-05)February 5, 1855 Livonia, Michigan, US
Died	December 17, 1941(1941-12-17) (aged 86) Geneva, New York, US
Nationality	American
Alma mater	University of Michigan Johns Hopkins University
Known for	Durfee square
Scientific career
Fields	Mathematics
Institutions	Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Doctoral advisor	James Sylvester

William Pitt Durfee (5 February 1855 – 17 December 1941) was an American mathematician who introduced Durfee squares. He was a student of James Sylvester, and after obtaining his degree in 1883 he became a professor at Hobart college in 1884 and became dean in 1888. Durfee House and Durfee Hall are named in his honor.

Publications

• Durfee, William P. (1900), The elements of plane trigonometry, Ginn & co.

References

• Parshall, Karen Hunger; Rowe, David E. (1994), The emergence of the American mathematical research community, 1876–1900: J. J. Sylvester, Felix Klein, and E. H. Moore, History of Mathematics, vol. 8, Providence, R.I.: American Mathematical Society, ISBN 978-0-8218-9004-2, MR 1290994
• Parshall, Karen Hunger (2005), "The emergence of the American Mathematical research community", in Kinyon, Michael; Van Brummelen, Glen (eds.), Mathematics and the historian's craft, CMS Books in Mathematics/Ouvrages de Mathématiques de la SMC, 21, Berlin, New York: Springer-Verlag, p. 191, doi:10.1007/0-387-28272-6, ISBN 978-0-387-25284-1, MR 2156756
• William Pitt Durfee at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
• Who Was Who in America: with World Notables. Volume 1, by Marquis Who's Who, 1942.

External links

• Biography on HWS website
• Durfee House on HWS website
• William Pitt Durfee at the Mathematics Genealogy Project