Today, November 2, 2015, marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of George Boole, one of the most influential mathematicians of all time – though it would be long after his death that his influence would manifest itself, when the growth of the modern digital age made significant aspects of our lives boolean. (To the degree that adjectival use of his name is no longer capitalized nor in need of italicization.)
Born in England, Boole spent the major part of his mathematical career as a professor at Queen’s College Cork, and the Irish mathematical community has been actively celebrating Boole’s life, work, and legacy throughout this year. Of particular note, is an Irish ballad, “The Mathematician - The Bould Georgie Boole”, specially written for the occasion and performed by the Arthur Céilí Band, which you can hear, with visual biographic accompaniment about Boole, on YouTube and Vimeo:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05IMBfkpn_M
https://vimeo.com/143768018.
The lyric and a download link to the song are available at:
https://arthurceiliband.bandcamp.com/releases.
In a more academic vein, University College Cork has created a video biography available at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-eav8-EEY4.
And US-based Irish mathematician Colm Mulcahy has a celebratory article in Scientific American.
There is a lot more available on the Boole Bicentennial that digital search technology (part of Boole’s legacy) makes easy to find, so I’ll keep this post short and let you explore on your own.
Be sure to log on to Google today. The company logo for the day is an active demonstration of boolean algebra using colors.
