Holbrook Mann MacNeille
Encyclopedia
Holbrook Mann MacNeille was an American
mathematician
who worked for the United States Atomic Energy Commission
before becoming the first Executive Director of the American Mathematical Society
.
and was raised in Summit, New Jersey
, the first of two brothers. His father was Perry Robinson MacNeille, an architect and urban planner and his mother Clausine Mann MacNeille who was active on the Summit Board of Education. His aunt was the Jungian
analyst Kristine Mann
.
MacNeille went to the Summit Public Schools
and summered in Bailey Island
, Maine
. At Bailey Island he became acquainted with Frank Aydelotte
who encouraged him to go to Swarthmore College
from which he graduated with highest honors in 1928. Following in Aydelotte's footsteps he was a Rhodes Scholar at Balliol College, Oxford
, England
1928–1930 receiving a B.A. in 1930 and an M.A. in 1947. He received a Ph.D. in Mathematics from Harvard University
in 1935 where he was the first student of Marshall Harvey Stone
, was a Sterling Fellow at Yale University
in New Haven, Connecticut
1935–1936 and a Benjamin Peirce
Instructor at Harvard between 1936–1938. During the summers he was also a partner in the Dave Richardson Laboratories in Bailey Island, Maine
, which produced dogfish
prepared for dissection
at school laboratories.
MacNeille's Ph.D work resulted in the MacNeille completion theorem http://planetmath.org/encyclopedia/NormalCompletion.html, a generalization of Richard Dedekind
's construction of real numbers from the ordered set of rationals.
Upon completing his studies, he taught mathematics at Kenyon College
in Gambier, Ohio
as an associate professor (1938–1941), full professor (1941–1947) and chairman of the department (1945–1947).
he was on leave as Scientific Liaison Officer (1944–1945) and Head of Mission (1945–1946) London Mission of the Office of Scientific Research and Development
, American Embassy in London
, England. During (1946–1948) he was Scientific Director of the London Branch Office of the U.S. Office of Naval Research
and then during (1948–1949) spent more than a year as chief of the fundamental research branch of the Atomic Energy Commission
in Washington, D.C. In 1948 he received the President's Certificate of Merit
from President Harry S. Truman
.
where he served until 1954. From 1954-1961 he was professor and chairman of the Department of Mathematics at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri
, and then from 1961 professor and chairman of the Department of Mathematics at Case Western Reserve University
in Cleveland
, Ohio
until his death.
During this latter period he became interested in teaching, and directed several educational movies as part of the Calculus Film Project of the Educational Media Committee of the Mathematical Association of America
.
He was killed accidentally when hit by a car while riding his bicycle.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
mathematician
Mathematician
A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
who worked for the United States Atomic Energy Commission
United States Atomic Energy Commission
The United States Atomic Energy Commission was an agency of the United States government established after World War II by Congress to foster and control the peace time development of atomic science and technology. President Harry S...
before becoming the first Executive Director of the American Mathematical Society
American Mathematical Society
The American Mathematical Society is an association of professional mathematicians dedicated to the interests of mathematical research and scholarship, which it does with various publications and conferences as well as annual monetary awards and prizes to mathematicians.The society is one of the...
.
Personal life
MacNeille was born May 11, 1907 in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and was raised in Summit, New Jersey
Summit, New Jersey
Summit is a city in Union County, New Jersey, United States. At the 2010 United States Census, the city's population was 21,457. Summit had the 16th-highest per capita income in the state as of the 2000 Census....
, the first of two brothers. His father was Perry Robinson MacNeille, an architect and urban planner and his mother Clausine Mann MacNeille who was active on the Summit Board of Education. His aunt was the Jungian
Carl Jung
Carl Gustav Jung was a Swiss psychiatrist and the founder of Analytical Psychology. Jung is considered the first modern psychiatrist to view the human psyche as "by nature religious" and make it the focus of exploration. Jung is one of the best known researchers in the field of dream analysis and...
analyst Kristine Mann
Kristine Mann
Kristine Mann writings at the University of Chicago. Mann was a follower of Henry James Sr., whose anti-ecclesiastical approach had brought him into conflict with the New Church in Chicago, resulting in the family moving to Orange...
.
MacNeille went to the Summit Public Schools
Summit Public Schools
The Summit Public Schools are a comprehensive community public school district that serves students in Pre-Kindergarten through twelfth grade from Summit, in Union County, New Jersey, United States....
and summered in Bailey Island
Bailey Island (Maine)
Bailey Island is an island in Casco Bay, and a part of the town of Harpswell, Maine, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the island had a year-round population of 400.-History:...
, Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
. At Bailey Island he became acquainted with Frank Aydelotte
Frank Aydelotte
Frank Aydelotte was a U.S. educator. His full name was Franklin Ridgeway Aydelotte. He is known for redefining Swarthmore College as an institution while he was president between 1921 and 1940 and was also the director of the Institute for Advanced Study from 1939 until 1947.Aydelotte was born in...
who encouraged him to go to Swarthmore College
Swarthmore College
Swarthmore College is a private, independent, liberal arts college in the United States with an enrollment of about 1,500 students. The college is located in the borough of Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, 11 miles southwest of Philadelphia....
from which he graduated with highest honors in 1928. Following in Aydelotte's footsteps he was a Rhodes Scholar at Balliol College, Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
1928–1930 receiving a B.A. in 1930 and an M.A. in 1947. He received a Ph.D. in Mathematics from Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
in 1935 where he was the first student of Marshall Harvey Stone
Marshall Harvey Stone
Marshall Harvey Stone was an American mathematician who contributed to real analysis, functional analysis, and the study of Boolean algebras.-Biography:...
, was a Sterling Fellow at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
in New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven's population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state's five largest cities, and...
1935–1936 and a Benjamin Peirce
Benjamin Peirce
Benjamin Peirce was an American mathematician who taught at Harvard University for approximately 50 years. He made contributions to celestial mechanics, statistics, number theory, algebra, and the philosophy of mathematics....
Instructor at Harvard between 1936–1938. During the summers he was also a partner in the Dave Richardson Laboratories in Bailey Island, Maine
Bailey Island (Maine)
Bailey Island is an island in Casco Bay, and a part of the town of Harpswell, Maine, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the island had a year-round population of 400.-History:...
, which produced dogfish
Squaliformes
Squaliformes is an order of sharks that includes about 97 species in seven families.Members of the order have two dorsal fins, which usually possess spines, no anal fin or nictitating membrane, and five gill slits. In most other respects, however, they are quite variable in form and size...
prepared for dissection
Dissection
Dissection is usually the process of disassembling and observing something to determine its internal structure and as an aid to discerning the functions and relationships of its components....
at school laboratories.
MacNeille's Ph.D work resulted in the MacNeille completion theorem http://planetmath.org/encyclopedia/NormalCompletion.html, a generalization of Richard Dedekind
Richard Dedekind
Julius Wilhelm Richard Dedekind was a German mathematician who did important work in abstract algebra , algebraic number theory and the foundations of the real numbers.-Life:...
's construction of real numbers from the ordered set of rationals.
Upon completing his studies, he taught mathematics at Kenyon College
Kenyon College
Kenyon College is a private liberal arts college in Gambier, Ohio, founded in 1824 by Bishop Philander Chase of The Episcopal Church, in parallel with the Bexley Hall seminary. It is the oldest private college in Ohio...
in Gambier, Ohio
Gambier, Ohio
Gambier is a village in Knox County, Ohio, United States. The population was 1,871 at the 2000 census.Gambier is the home of Kenyon College and was named after one of Kenyon College's early benefactors, Lord Gambier....
as an associate professor (1938–1941), full professor (1941–1947) and chairman of the department (1945–1947).
World War II
During several of the years at Kenyon CollegeKenyon College
Kenyon College is a private liberal arts college in Gambier, Ohio, founded in 1824 by Bishop Philander Chase of The Episcopal Church, in parallel with the Bexley Hall seminary. It is the oldest private college in Ohio...
he was on leave as Scientific Liaison Officer (1944–1945) and Head of Mission (1945–1946) London Mission of the Office of Scientific Research and Development
Office of Scientific Research and Development
The Office of Scientific Research and Development was an agency of the United States federal government created to coordinate scientific research for military purposes during World War II. Arrangements were made for its creation during May 1941, and it was created formally by on June 28, 1941...
, American Embassy in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England. During (1946–1948) he was Scientific Director of the London Branch Office of the U.S. Office of Naval Research
Office of Naval Research
The Office of Naval Research , headquartered in Arlington, Virginia , is the office within the United States Department of the Navy that coordinates, executes, and promotes the science and technology programs of the U.S...
and then during (1948–1949) spent more than a year as chief of the fundamental research branch of the Atomic Energy Commission
United States Atomic Energy Commission
The United States Atomic Energy Commission was an agency of the United States government established after World War II by Congress to foster and control the peace time development of atomic science and technology. President Harry S...
in Washington, D.C. In 1948 he received the President's Certificate of Merit
President's Certificate of Merit
The President's Certificate of Merit was created June 6, 1946 by Executive Order 9734 signed by US President Harry Truman, "for award by the President or at his direction to any civilian who on or after December 7, 1941 , has performed a meritorious act or service which has aided the United States...
from President Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...
.
After World War II
In November 1949 he became executive director of the American Mathematical SocietyAmerican Mathematical Society
The American Mathematical Society is an association of professional mathematicians dedicated to the interests of mathematical research and scholarship, which it does with various publications and conferences as well as annual monetary awards and prizes to mathematicians.The society is one of the...
where he served until 1954. From 1954-1961 he was professor and chairman of the Department of Mathematics at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
, and then from 1961 professor and chairman of the Department of Mathematics at Case Western Reserve University
Case Western Reserve University
Case Western Reserve University is a private research university located in Cleveland, Ohio, USA...
in Cleveland
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
until his death.
During this latter period he became interested in teaching, and directed several educational movies as part of the Calculus Film Project of the Educational Media Committee of the Mathematical Association of America
Mathematical Association of America
The Mathematical Association of America is a professional society that focuses on mathematics accessible at the undergraduate level. Members include university, college, and high school teachers; graduate and undergraduate students; pure and applied mathematicians; computer scientists;...
.
He was killed accidentally when hit by a car while riding his bicycle.
Filmography
- "Area under a curve"
- "The definite integralIntegralIntegration is an important concept in mathematics and, together with its inverse, differentiation, is one of the two main operations in calculus...
" - "Volume of a solid of revolution"
- "Infinite acres"
- "Volume of a solid of a revolution"
- "Volume by shells"
- "Theorem of the Mean Policeman"
Awards and other positions
- Rhodes ScholarshipRhodes ScholarshipThe Rhodes Scholarship, named after Cecil Rhodes, is an international postgraduate award for study at the University of Oxford. It was the first large-scale programme of international scholarships, and is widely considered the "world's most prestigious scholarship" by many public sources such as...
(1928) (Swarthmore CollegeSwarthmore CollegeSwarthmore College is a private, independent, liberal arts college in the United States with an enrollment of about 1,500 students. The college is located in the borough of Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, 11 miles southwest of Philadelphia....
, BalliolBalliol College, OxfordBalliol College , founded in 1263, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England but founded by a family with strong Scottish connections....
) - John William SterlingJohn William SterlingJohn William Sterling was a corporate attorney and major benefactor to Yale University.-Biography:John William Sterling was born in Stratford, Connecticut. He graduated from Yale University with a B.A. in 1864 and was a member of Skull and Bones. He was admitted to the bar three years later. He...
Research Fellowship, Yale UniversityYale UniversityYale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
(1936-1936) - Benjamin PeirceBenjamin PeirceBenjamin Peirce was an American mathematician who taught at Harvard University for approximately 50 years. He made contributions to celestial mechanics, statistics, number theory, algebra, and the philosophy of mathematics....
Instructor in Mathematics, Harvard UniversityHarvard UniversityHarvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
(1936-1938) - President's Certificate of MeritPresident's Certificate of MeritThe President's Certificate of Merit was created June 6, 1946 by Executive Order 9734 signed by US President Harry Truman, "for award by the President or at his direction to any civilian who on or after December 7, 1941 , has performed a meritorious act or service which has aided the United States...
, President Harry S. TrumanHarry S. TrumanHarry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...
(1948) - Society for Industrial and Applied MathematicsSociety for Industrial and Applied MathematicsThe Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics was founded by a small group of mathematicians from academia and industry who met in Philadelphia in 1951 to start an organization whose members would meet periodically to exchange ideas about the uses of mathematics in industry. This meeting led...
council (1961-1964) - Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of ScienceAmerican Association for the Advancement of ScienceThe American Association for the Advancement of Science is an international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsibility, and supporting scientific education and science outreach for the...
council (1964) - Chairman of the Mathematics Association of America committee on Educational Media (1962-1963)
- Phi Beta Kappa
- Associate editor Sigma XiSigma XiSigma Xi: The Scientific Research Society is a non-profit honor society which was founded in 1886 at Cornell University by a junior faculty member and a handful of graduate students. Members elect others on the basis of their research achievements or potential...
Mathematics Magazine (1962-1963)
Publications
- H. M. MacNeille, Extensions of Partially Ordered Sets, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, Vol. 22, 1936
- H. M. MacNeille, Partially Ordered Sets, Transactions of the American Mathematical SocietyTransactions of the American Mathematical SocietyTransactions of the American Mathematical Society is a monthly mathematics journal published by the American Mathematical Society. It started in 1900...
, Vol. 42, No. 3 (Nov., 1937) , pp. 416–460 - H. M. MacNeille, Extensions of Measure, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, Vol 24, 1938
- H. M. MacNeille, Extensions of Measure, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol. 24, No. 4 (Apr. 15, 1938) , pp. 188–193
- H. M. MacNeille, Lattices and Boolean Rings, Bull. AMS, 1939
- H. M. MacNeille, Extension of a distributive lattice to a Boolean ring, Bull. Amer. Math. Soc, 1939
- H. M. MacNeille, A Unified Theory of Integration, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 27, 1941