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THE
LIFE AND
ACHIEVEMENTS OF
GEORGE BOOLE
Melissa Rosales
Natalia Sillas
Emma Sundin
October 17, 2011
The University of Texas at El Paso
Course: University 1301
Instructor: Dr. Helmut Knaust
Peer Leader: Priscilla Lucerno

Overview of Presentation
George Boole: His Life and Achievements
● Introduction
● The Birth of George Boole
● George Boole & Family
● Childhood & Schooling
● Early Twenties
● Brief Overview on Invariant Theory
● Who Influenced Boole?
○ Leibniz
○ Lagrange
○ Laplace

Overview of Presentation
George Boole: His Life and Achievements
(continued)
● Professorship at Queen's College
● The Laws of Thought and Boolean Algebra
● Boolean Algebra and The Laws of Thought
● Marriage to Mary Everest
● Children of George and Mary Boole
● Death
● Legacy

Introduction
● English Mathematician
● Inventor of Boolean Algebra
● Two major writings that
incorporate George Boole’s
work: “The Mathematical
Analysis of Logic”(1847) and
“The Laws of Thought” (1854)
● Known as the "founder of the
field of computer science"
● Major influence on
development of computer
circuits

George Boole & Family

The Duke of Wellington leading the British
troops in the Battle of Waterloo, five months
before George Boole's birth.
Source: paranoidpyro8503.blogspot.com

● Mary Ann Joyce & John
Boole married September
14, 1806
● Father: John Boole,
shopkeeper and amature
mathematical scientist
● Mother: Mary Ann Joyce,
a lady's maid
● John owned a cobbler
shop located at 34 Silver
street, Lincoln

The Birth of George Boole
● Born November 2,
1815 in Lincoln,
England
● Born into the
"lower classes" of
English society

Lincoln

George Boole & Family
● Father had deep passion and
love for mathematics as well
as instruments; drove majority
of attention to hobbies instead
of securing successful
business
● Family not well off
● After John & Mary Ann had 9
years together conceived
George
● George named after his
grandfather, who passed away
in 1815
● Three siblings: Mary Ann,
William, and Charles

A painting of Lincolnshire, UK
image source: www.oldukphotos.com

Childhood & Schooling
● At age two, attended school
for children of tradesmen
● A year after, age three,
attended a commercial school;
remained seven years
● Father primary instructor and
inspiration in Mathematics
throughout Boole's schooling
years
● Father peeked son's interest in
making optical instruments

Childhood & Schooling
● Attended a primary school
at age of seven
● Became interested in
learning classical languages
as a way to raise his social
status
● Father noticed son's interest
in laguages; had friend
William Brooke,
a bookseller, teach George
Latin
● Boole taught himself Greek
at age 14

Typical School in Lincoln, UK
image source: geograph.org.uk

Schooling continued

Boole's house, which still stands to this day,
in Cork, Ireland
image source: Wikimedia Commons

● Age 12, translated one of Horace's
Odes from Latin into English
● Father so proud he had son's
translation published in local paper
● Age 14, began attending Bainbridge
Commercial Academy
● Learned French as well as English
while studying at the academy
● Last of formal education; after
leaving, began self study
● Age 16, Boole took job as "usher"
(assistant teacher) to help support
his parents

Childhood and schooling continued
● Had a mystic experience at age
17. Believed God called upon
him to explain how the mind
processes thought
● 1834, Boole's father made
curator of the Mechanics
Institute (an organization to help
the lower classes educate
themselves)
● Public lectures given
● Age 20, Boole opened his own
school
George Boole
image source: daviddarling.info

Early Twenties
● At age 20 had mastered
French, German, and Italian
● 1835: gives an address on
Newton; it is printed
● 1838: Robert Hall,
headmaster of Hall's
Academy in Waddington,
dies
● Boole invited to take charge
of Hall's Academy; moves
with parents and sisters to
Waddington

Drawing of George Boole as a young man
image credit: School of
Mathematics and Statistics, University of
St Andrews, Scotland

Early Twenties
● studied the works of great
mathematicians and rewrote
textbooks (Sir Issac Newton,
Pierre-Simon Laplace, JosephLouis Lagrange)
● By 1839 began producing his own
mathematical work, some of
which later inspired Einstein
● 1840: contributes to Cambridge
mathematical journal (Researches
on the Theory of Analytical
Transformations)
Cambridge & Dublin Mathematical Journal
image source: books.google.com

Early Twenties
● 1841: develops Invariant
Theory
● 1844: Boole writes
mathematical pioneering
paper on "Calculus of
Operators"
● Awarded first Gold Medal
for Mathematics from the
Royal Society of London for
this work (On a General
Method in Analysis)

Royal Society Gold Medal for Astronomy, 1876. The
medal Boole received was for Mathematics, but would
have appeared similar.
image source: xtimeline.com

Royal Society of London:
"his method would find a
permanent place in the science"

Brief Overview on Invariant Theory
● Classical invariant theory is the study of intrinsic properties
of polynomials.
● Intrinsic: those properties which are unaffected by a change
of variables and are purely geometric.
● Intrinsic properties:
○ factorizability,
○ multiplicities of roots,
○ geometrical congurations of roots.
● Non-intrinsic properties:
○ explicit values of the roots,
○ particular coefficients of the polynomial

Early Twenties
"...no general method
for the solution of
questions in the theory
of probabilities can be
established which does
not explicitly reco
gnize... those universal
laws of
thought which

are
the basis of
all reasoning...
"

● 1847- applying algebra to the
solution of logical problems
● "The Mathematical Analysis of
Logic"
● Expanded Gottfried
Leibniz' correlation between
logic and math
● argued that logic was
principally a discipline in
mathematics, rather than
philosophy
● Won him admiration and
admission to the faculty of
Ireland's Queen's College

Who influenced George Boole?
Leibniz
● The Mathematical Analysis
of Logic influenced
by Gottfried Leibniz's work
● Leibniz believed a relation
existed between logic and
math
● Boole expanded on his idea
● Boole argued logic was a
"discipline of mathematics
rather than philosophy."
(Source: George Boole")
Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz
image credit: Wikimedia Commons

Who Influenced Boole?
Lagrange
● Boole read Lagrange's
treatise on analytical
mechanics (Mécanique
Analytique) in his early
twenties
● In
the Mécanique, Lagrange
used mathematics to
describe the motion of
objects

Joseph-Louis comte de Lagrange

Who Influenced Boole?
Laplace
● Laplace: French
mathematician and
astronomer
● Boole read Laplace's work
on celestial
mechanics (the Mécanique
Céleste)
● Laplace's book uses calculus
to explain the motion of stars
and planets
Pierre-Simon Laplace

D. F. Gregory

D. F. Gregory, Scottish mathematician
and friend of Boole
image source: Wikimedia Commons

● Scottish mathematician
● Corresponded with Boole on
mathematics
● Admired originality of Boole's
work
● Helped Boole publish his first
works in the Cambridge
Mathematical Journal (of
which Gregory was the editor)
● Formed life-long friendship
with Boole

Professorship at Queen's College

Queen's College, Cork
image credit: corkheritage.ie

● Boole appointed first
Professor of Mathematics
at Queen's College, Cork
Ireland, in 1849
● Produced various
mathematical works
during his time at Queen's
● Put most of his effort into
his great work on
symbolic logic, An
Investigation of the Laws
of Thought

"Pure Mathematics was
discovered by Boole in a work
which he called The Laws of
Thought."

- Bertrand Russell

The Laws of Thought
● An Investigation of the Laws
of Thought, on which are
founded the Mathematical
Theories of Logic and
Probabilities
● Published 1848
● Written while Boole at
Queen's
● Applied algebra to logical
reasoning
● Initially ignored as a useless
novelty

The Laws of Thought, title page
image credit: openlibrary.org

What is Boolean Algebra?
● An algebra for calculating truth values from
logically connected statements
● Rules for this algebra known as Boolean
Laws
● Uses true and false statements configured
from the symbols ¬,→,∨,∧ in a series of
statements
● True and false statements are base of circuit
functions

Boolean Algebra Laws
● Boolean Algebra Laws
○ I. Commutative Law
■ eg., ab = ba
○ II. Associative Law
■ eg., (ab) c = a (bc)
○ III. Distributive Law
■ eg., a(b+c) = ab+ac
○ IV. Identity Law
■ eg., a+a = a
○ V. Redundance Law
■ eg., a+ab = a

Truth Tables
A

B

A AND B A OR B

IF A THEN B

True

True

True

True

True

True

False

False

True

False

False True

False

True

True

False False

False

False

True

A truth table showing the truth values for various operands of
the binary Boolean operators AND, OR, and IF...THEN

Marriage to Mary Everest
● married in 1855
● Niece of Welsh surveyor
and geographer George
Everest (after whom Mount
Everest is named)
● George and Mary Boole
had five daughters together

image credit: from the book George
Boole by Desmond MacHale

Children of George and Mary Boole

image credit: Kevin Boole, http://www.freewebs.com/boole-family/

Death
● Contracted pneumonia after
lecturing in wet clothing
● Died December 8, 1864, in
Ballintemple, County Cork,
Ireland
Boole's grave site in Cork
image credit: Marcovanhogan

● Funeral attended by
many admirers from his
community
Boole Plaque
image credit: Richard Croft

● Buried in the Church of
Ireland cemetery of St
Michael's

image credit: University College, Cork
(through www.freewebs.com/boole-family/boolewindowcork.htm)

Memorial Windows
in Great Hall of University College Cork, Ireland

Boole Memorial
Window, detail
This window
commemorates
"Mathematical Logic"
Depicted are Aristotle,
Euclid, and Boole
(seated)
Window installed in
1860's

image credits: University College, Cork
(through www.freewebs.com/boole-family/boolewindowcork.htm)

Legacy

Voyager space probe
image credit: nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov

● Modern electronic
technology is built upon
Boole's work on symbolic
logic

A Cray-1 supercomputer, circa 1970
image credit: Cray Research, Inc.

Legacy
● Boolean algebra
first applied to electrical
switching circuits in
1930's by Claude
Shannon
● Boolean algebra used to
design electronic circuits
● Basis for all modern
computer logic
● Internet searches often
use Boolean operators to
separate and relate search
terms: "fish AND (chips
OR french-fries)"

Boolean operations in constructive solid
geometry
image credit: Captain Sprite, wikipedia.org

Legacy
● The Boole Centre for Research
in Informatics at University
College Cork (the modern
name of Queen's College,
Cork) is named after George
Boole
● Boole Crater on the moon is
named after George Boole

Thanks
The presenters would like to thank the following:
The Technology Support Center at the University
of Texas at El Paso library, for providing
computers and group space in which we worked on
this presentation

Our UNIV 1301 peer-leader, Priscilla Lucerno
Our UNIV 1301 instructor, Dr. Helmut Knaust

References
Books
● Simonis, D., & Hertzenberg, C. (1999). Scientists, Mathematicians, and Inventors:
Lives and Legacies: an Encyclopedia of People Who Changed the
World. Greenwood Publishing Group.
● Bell, E. T. (1937). Men of Mathematics: The Lives and Achievements of the Great
Mathematicians from Zeno to Poincare. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster.

Articles
● Cooksey, E. B. (1997). George Boole: The Man behind "And/Or/Not". Libraries &
Culture, 32(1), 81-93
● O'Connor, J. J., & Robertson, E. F. (June 2004). George Boole. Retrieved from http:
//www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Boole.html
● Boole, K. (2011) Boole: Ancestors and Descendants. Retrieved from http://www.
freewebs.com/boole-family/boolewindowcork.htm
● Belton, D. (April 1998). Elements of Boolean Algebra. Retrieved from http://www.ee.
surrey.ac.uk/Projects/Labview/boolalgebra/index.html

References
Internet Sources
● Belton, David ( April 1938) Boolean Algebra
● School of Mathematics and Statistics JOC/EFR (June 2004) George Boole
● Burris, Stanley (2010) George Boole http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/boole/
● Stanhope, Janine George Boole http://www.sjsu.edu/depts/Museum/boole.html
● Reville, William, George Boole http://understandingscience.ucc.
ie/pages/sci_georgeboole.htm
● Gale, Thompson (2005-2006) George Boole http://www.bookrags.
com/biography/george-boole/
● Dalakov, Georgi (2011) George Boole http://history-computer.
com/ModernComputer/thinkers/Boole.html
● Valiquett, Franci. "Classical Invariant Theory Through an Example." Classical
Invariant Theory. (2008): 2/27. Print. <http://www.math.umn.
edu/~valiq001/presentations/class_inv_theory/cit.pdf>.
● Royal Society of Edinburg. "George Boole." Proceedings of the Royal Society of
Edinburgh. 4. (1857-1862): 85/634. Print. <http://books.google.com/books?
id=ryfavu8Z0FsC&pg=PA84&lpg=PA84&dq=boole awarded
medal&source=bl&ots=LuAiO33OPI&sig=JcTRLeakOPnJ2kpeqOpdsynnVjg&hl=en&
ei=UcibTqKLBYrdiALp9vzGDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0C
B4Q6AEwAA

References
Photo credits
● "Lincoln Minster School, Lincoln" http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/586466
● "George Boole's house" http://www.geolocation.
ws/v/W/4d93d9238786562305016bd0/george-booles-house-bachelors-quay-cork
● "Laws of Thought" http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/historydisplays/TimeLine/TimeLine2/2.
6.01-BooleanAlbegra/GBoole1.jpg
● No name of image; George Boole self portrait http://personales.ya.
com/casanchi/ref/boole.jpg
● "Lincolnshire, Lincoln from Southeast in the 1980's" http://www.oldukphotos.
com/graphics/England Photos/Lincolnshire, Lincoln, from South East.jpg
● "Mary Everest Boole" http://www.darwinproject.ac.
uk/images/stories/ImagesPrintedMatter/Correspondence14/mary_boole_large.jpg
● "George Boole 1815-1864" http://sbcblog.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/boole2.jpg
● Photo unnamed; The Battle of Waterloo http://paranoidpyro8503.blogspot.
com/2009/04/democrats-telling-republicans-how-to.html

References
Photo credits
● "The Mathematical Analysis of Logic" book cover. http://images.amazon.
com/images/P/1855065835.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpghttp://images.amazon.
com/images/P/1855065835.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg
● "And...OR...hmmm" graphic http://www.wsulibs.wsu.
edu/electric/trainingmods/tilt/nf/glossary/images/Boole.gif
● Map of Lincolnshire, England. http://www.lincsuk.com/picts/eastmidlandsmap1.jpg
● "George Boole Orders Lunch" cartoon: http://www.cartoonstock.
com/lowres/shr1274l.jpg
● George Boole's house. http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1309/5135357353_70719ef83e.
jpg
● George Boole's House and School, Lincoln, UK:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Boole%27sHouse.jpg
● Boole's Lincolnshire house (Attribution: Richard Croft) http://commons.wikimedia.
org/wiki/File:3_Pottergate_-_geograph.org.uk_-_657140.jpg
● Plaque on Boole's Lincoln house: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:
BoolePlacque.jpg
● Boole's house in Cork, Ireland: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:
George_Boole%27s_House,_Bachelor%27s_Quay,_Cork_City_-_geograph.org.uk__1235488.jpg
● The Cambridge and Dublin Mathematical Journal http://books.google.com/books?
id=lqYKAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&img=1&zoom=1&edge=curl

References
Photo credits:
● Boole's grave site in Cork: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2010-05-26_at_1805-02.jpg
● Boole plaque under window: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BoolePlaque2.
jpg
● George Boole; photo unnamed http://history-computer.
com/ModernComputer/thinkers/images/boole2.jpg
● Royal Society Gold Medal for Astronomy: http://www.xtimeline.
com/__UserPic_Large/50790/evt100310094300288.jpg
● Boole centre for research in informatics: http://www.hearne.com.
au/item_images/Boole%20Centre%20for%20Research%20in%20Informatics.jpg
● Boole crater: http://www.educared.
org/global/premiointernacional/finalistas/710/imagenes/imagluna/07Boole1.JPG
● D. F. Gregory: http://upload.wikimedia.
org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/33/Duncan_Farquharson_Gregory.jpg/175pxDuncan_Farquharson_Gregory.jpg
● Leibniz portrait: http://upload.wikimedia.
org/wikipedia/commons/6/6a/Gottfried_Wilhelm_von_Leibniz.jpg
● Lagrange portrait: http://upload.wikimedia.
org/wikipedia/commons/d/d8/Langrange_portrait.jpg

References
Photo credits:
● Laplace portrait: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pierre-Simon_Laplace.jpg
● Boole (photo): http://www.daviddarling.info/images/Boole_George.jpg
● Cray supercomputer: http://images.yourdictionary.com/images/computer/_CRAY1.
GIF
● Boolean union of solids: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Boolean_union.PNG
● Boolean difference of solids: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Boolean_difference.
PNG
● Boolean intersection of solids: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Boolean_intersect.
PNG
● Bertrand Russel photo: http://www.100welshheroes.com/images/bertrand_russell120.
jpg
● La

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