James J. Stoker

James Johnston Stoker (March 2, 1905 – October 19, 1992) was an American applied mathematician and engineer. He was director of the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences and is considered one of the founders of the institute, Courant and Friedrichs being the others.^[1][2] Stoker is known for his work in differential geometry and theory of water waves. He is also the author of the now classic book Water Waves: The Mathematical Theory with Applications.

James J. Stoker
Born	James Johnston Stoker March 2, 1905 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Died	October 19, 1992(1992-10-19) (aged 87)
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Federal Institute of Technology Zürich, (Ph.D., 1936)
Known for	Theory of water waves
Awards	Timoshenko Medal (1970)
Scientific career
Fields	Applied Mathematics
Institutions	Courant Institute
Doctoral advisor	Heinz Hopf George Pólya
Doctoral students	Louis Nirenberg Jean Van Heijenoort Eli Turkel

Career

Hailing from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Stoker started his career as a mining engineer.^[3] In the 1930s, he went to Zürich to pursue a doctorate in mechanics at the Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich. One of the first courses he took there was by Heinz Hopf on geometry. Stoker was so impressed by the subject, and the teacher, that he switched his doctoral programme to differential geometry^[2] He received his Ph.D. degree under the supervision of Hopf and George Pólya. Hopf later recommended Stoker to Richard Courant. In 1937 Stoker, along with Courant's former student Kurt O. Friedrichs, joined Courant in the Department of Mathematics at the New York University.^[1] With Stoker's engineering background and Friedrichs' mastery in mathematics, the two were effectively collaborated on many applied problems such as plate theory.^[3]

On Courant's retirement in 1958 Stoker succeeded him as director and served until 1966. It was during Stoker's period as director, the Institute acquired greater autonomy within the University framework. It became the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences in 1965. Friedrichs succeeded Stoker as director in 1966.

Honors and awards

• The American Mathematical Society selected Stoker as the Josiah Willards Gibbs lecturer for 1961.^[4][5]
• In 1970, Stoker received the Timoshenko Medal in recognition of distinguished contributions to the field of applied mechanics.^[6]

Books

• Differential Geometry, Wiley-Interscience (1989). ISBN 0-471-50403-3
• Water Waves: The Mathematical Theory with Applications, Wiley-Interscience (1957). 1992 pbk reprint

Stoker's book on "Water Waves" is a significant work which summarises the state of knowledge in water wave theory in 1957. The focus is on linear wave theory.

• Nonlinear Vibrations in Mechanical and Electrical Systems, Wiley-Interscience (1950).^[7]

References

1. "Courant Institute: History". New York University. Retrieved 2009-10-31.
2. "BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS: Courant". National Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 2009-10-31.
3. "The Life of Kurt Otto Friedrichs". friedrichs.us. Retrieved 2009-10-31.
4. Josiah Willard Gibbs Lectures
5. Stoker, J. J. (1962). "Some observations on continuum mechanics with emphasis on elasticity". Bull. Amer. Math. Soc. 68 (4): 239–278. doi:10.1090/s0002-9904-1962-10760-5. MR 1566192.
6. "Timoshenko Medal". ASME. Retrieved 2009-10-31.
7. Minorsky, N. (1950). "Book Review: Nonlinear vibrations in mechanical and electrical systems". Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society. 56 (6): 519–522. doi:10.1090/S0002-9904-1950-09432-4. ISSN 0002-9904.

External links

• James J. Stoker at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
• James J. Stoker's obituary at the New York Times