MATHEMATICIANS from Ireland

Top 6

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Irish Mathematicians of all time. This list of famous Irish Mathematicians is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

1. Sir George Stokes, 1st Baronet (1819 - 1903)

With an HPI of 70.51, Sir George Stokes, 1st Baronet is the most famous Irish Mathematician.  His biography has been translated into 51 different languages on wikipedia.

Sir George Gabriel Stokes, 1st Baronet, (; 13 August 1819 – 1 February 1903) was an Irish mathematician and physicist. Born in County Sligo, Ireland, Stokes spent all of his career at the University of Cambridge, where he was the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics from 1849 until his death in 1903. As a physicist, Stokes made seminal contributions to fluid mechanics, including the Navier–Stokes equations; and to physical optics, with notable works on polarisation and fluorescence. As a mathematician, he popularised "Stokes' theorem" in vector calculus and contributed to the theory of asymptotic expansions. Stokes, along with Felix Hoppe-Seyler, first demonstrated the oxygen transport function of haemoglobin, and showed colour changes produced by the aeration of haemoglobin solutions. Stokes was made a baronet by the British monarch in 1889. In 1893 he received the Royal Society's Copley Medal, then the most prestigious scientific prize in the world, "for his researches and discoveries in physical science". He represented Cambridge University in the British House of Commons from 1887 to 1892, sitting as a Conservative. Stokes also served as president of the Royal Society from 1885 to 1890 and was briefly the Master of Pembroke College, Cambridge. Stokes's extensive correspondence and his work as Secretary of the Royal Society has led him to be referred to as a gatekeeper of Victorian science, with his contributions surpassing his own published papers.

2. Vergilius of Salzburg (700 - 784)

With an HPI of 56.79, Vergilius of Salzburg is the 2nd most famous Irish Mathematician.  His biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

Virgil (c. 700– 27 November 784), also spelled Vergil, Vergilius, Virgilius, Feirgil or Fearghal, was an Irish priest and early astronomer. He left Ireland around 745, intending to visit the Holy Land; but, like many of his countrymen, he settled in Francia. Virgil served as abbot of Aghaboe, bishop of Ossory and later bishop of Salzburg. He was called "the Apostle of Carinthia" and "the geometer".

3. William Brouncker, 2nd Viscount Brouncker (1620 - 1684)

With an HPI of 52.09, William Brouncker, 2nd Viscount Brouncker is the 3rd most famous Irish Mathematician.  His biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

William Brouncker, 2nd Viscount Brouncker FRS (c. 1620 – 5 April 1684) was an Anglo-Irish peer and mathematician who served as the president of the Royal Society from 1662 to 1677. Best known for introducing Brouncker's formula, he also worked as a civil servant, serving as a commissioner in the Royal Navy. Brouncker was a friend and colleague of Samuel Pepys, and features prominently in the Pepys' diary.

4. Alicia Boole Stott (1860 - 1940)

With an HPI of 48.32, Alicia Boole Stott is the 4th most famous Irish Mathematician.  Her biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Alicia Boole Stott (8 June 1860 – 17 December 1940) was a British amateur mathematician. She made a number of contributions to the field and was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Groningen. She grasped four-dimensional geometry from an early age, and introduced the term "polytope" for a convex solid in four or more dimensions.

5. George Salmon (1819 - 1904)

With an HPI of 44.72, George Salmon is the 5th most famous Irish Mathematician.  His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

George Salmon (25 September 1819 – 22 January 1904) was a distinguished and influential Irish mathematician and Anglican theologian. After working in algebraic geometry for two decades, Salmon devoted the last forty years of his life to theology. His entire career was spent at Trinity College Dublin, having served as the 32nd Provost of the university from 1888 to 1904.

6. Henry John Stephen Smith (1826 - 1883)

With an HPI of 40.22, Henry John Stephen Smith is the 6th most famous Irish Mathematician.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Henry John Stephen Smith (2 November 1826 – 9 February 1883) was an Irish mathematician and amateur astronomer remembered for his work in elementary divisors, quadratic forms, and Smith–Minkowski–Siegel mass formula in number theory. In matrix theory he is visible today in having his name on the Smith normal form of a matrix. Smith was also first to discover the Cantor set.