Such Silver Currents: The Story of William and Lucy Clifford, 1845-1929This is the first biography of a mathematical genius and his literary wife, their wide circle of well-known intellectual and artistic friends, and through them of the age in which they lived. William Clifford died in 1879 at the age of 33. During his short life he became renowned not only for his innovative and lasting mathematics, but also for his philosophy, which embraced the fundamentals of scientific thought, the nature of the physical universe, Darwinian evolutionary theory, the nature of consciousness, personal morality and law, and the whole mystery of being. It is now recognised among mathematicians and physicists that Dirac's theory of the electron, fundamental to modern physics, is based on Clifford algebra. He also anticipated Einstein's idea that space is curved. The year after his election to the Royal Society, Clifford married Lucy Lane, the journalist and novelist. During their four years of marriage they held Sunday salons which were attended by many well-known scientific, literary and artistic personalities. After William's death, Lucy became a close friend and confidante of Henry James. Her wide circle of friends included Rudyard Kipling, Thomas Hardy, George Eliot, Leslie Stephen, Thomas Huxley, Sir Frederick Macmillan, Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. Monty Chisholm has researched the lives of these two influential people from archive material, biographies of those who knew them, and hitherto unpublished collections of letters. Her insight, not only into the lives of the Cliffords, but also into the period in which they lived, makes for fascinating and lively reading. The book is further enhanced by a personal reflection on William Clifford's mathematics in the Afterword by the celebrated mathematician Sir Roger Penrose O.M. Download the Contents and Introduction here (PDF, 74 KB) Download Chapter 1 - Lucy's Early Years 1846-1875 here (PDF, 83 KB) Download Chapter 2 - William's Childhood in Exeter 1845-1863 here (PDF, 132 KB) |
Contents
Williams Childhood in Exeter | 13 |
University College London | 28 |
Friendship with George Eliot and George Lewes | 41 |
Copyright | |
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Such Silver Currents: The Story of William and Lucy Clifford, 1845-1929 Monty Chisholm Limited preview - 2021 |
Such Silver Currents: The Story of William and Lucy Clifford, 1845-1929 Monty Chisholm Limited preview - 2021 |
Common terms and phrases
academic Aunt Anne Cambridge circles Clifford algebra Conway daughter dear diary Dilke early edition Ethel famous Frederick Pollock friends friendship geometry George Eliot Henry James husband ibid ideas interest J. J. Sylvester James Russell Lowell James's John Collier Keith's Crime L&E second edn Lady later Lectures and Essays Leslie Stephen letters to Lucy Lewes literary living London Lucy Clifford Lucy wrote Lucy's Macmillan Madeira Margaret marriage married Mathematical Papers mathematicians mother nature never novel philosophical physical play portrait Professor published Review rptd L&E second rptd L&E Vol Rudyard Kipling scientific second edn 1886 short story Society space talk theory things Thomas Huxley thought took Tyndall Valehouse Collection Vanessa Victorian Virginia Woolf W. K. Clifford wife William and Lucy William Clifford William Kingdon Clifford woman women words writing wrote to Lucy York young