Who was Oliver Heaviside?
Q: Who was Oliver Heaviside?
A: Oliver Heaviside was an English electrical engineer, mathematician, and physicist who lived from 18 May 1850 to 3 February 1925.
Q: What did he do in the scientific world?
A: He used complex numbers to study electrical circuits and did a lot of work on electromagnetic wave theory which made it necessary to find new ways of working with differential equations. He also worked on Maxwell's field equations and vector analysis, and is credited as the inventor of Vector Calculus.
Q: How has his work been recognized?
A: His work has been recognized after his death; people have realized how much he changed the study of mathematics and physics. Part of the ionosphere is co-named after him - the Kennelly-Heaviside layer - as a tribute to his achievements.
Q: What kind of person was Oliver Heaviside?
A: Oliver Heaviside had an eccentric personality, often fitting what many people think of as a mad scientist stereotype.
Q: What did he contribute to mathematics and physics?
A: Oliver Heaviside contributed significantly to both mathematics and physics by using complex numbers to study electrical circuits, doing a lot of work on electromagnetic wave theory, working on Maxwell's field equations and vector analysis, and inventing Vector Calculus.