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Rosa M. Morris

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Rosa Margaret Morris
A young woman on a deckchair
Rosa Morris in her garden, 1938
Born(1914-07-16)16 July 1914
Rogerstone, Monmouthshire, Wales, United Kingdom
Died15 October 2011(2011-10-15) (aged 97)
EducationUniversity College of South Wales and Monmouthshire
Alma materUniversity of Cambridge
AwardsUniversity of Wales Fellowship
Department of Scientific and Industrial Research Senior Research Award
Scientific career
FieldsApplied mathematics
InstitutionsUniversity College of South Wales and Monmouthshire, Cardiff
Thesis Two-dimensional potential theory, with special reference to aerodynamic problems  (1940)
Doctoral advisorsGeorge Henry Livens
Geoffrey Ingram Taylor
Doctoral studentsDavid Edmunds

Rosa Margaret Morris (16 July 1914 – 15 October 2011)[1] was a Welsh applied mathematician, working in potential theory and aerodynamics. When she was 23, her research and examination results made national news. In her later career, she taught at the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire (now Cardiff University), where she co-authored a successful textbook on Mathematical Methods of Physics and became one of the first female Heads of School of Mathematics in the United Kingdom.

Early life and education

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Morris was born in Rogerstone, Monmouthshire,[1] the youngest child of John and Mary Aline Morris, née Roberts. Her father, who died when she was young, was the headmaster of the elementary school in Rogerstone,[2][3] and her mother was a schoolmistress.[4] Morris first attended Rogerstone School, then Pontywaun County School, Pontymister, Risca,[3] from 1926 to 1932, with Distinctions in Pure and Applied Mathematics.[2] She studied mathematics at the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire in Cardiff, graduating with a first class degree in 1936 and continuing as a research student until 1938,[3] working under the supervision of George Henry Livens.[5][6][7] During this time, Morris, aged 23, published her first articles, on potential theory[8] and aerodynamics.[9] Her approach showed "the advantages of using the complex variable in [...] boundary problems of mathematical physics"[10] and made national news, including an interview,[6] with human interest stories focusing on her as a "mathematical genius", having "found a method of solving problems in aerodynamics which have hitherto defied all mathematicians". She was described as a "keen hockey player and accomplished dressmaker", and University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire Principal Frederick Rees stated that at her examination, she would have been entitled to 130 percent compared to the next best student, and a special case had to be made for her to avoid handicapping other students.[4][11][12] Short reports on her achievements were also printed in American local newspapers.[13][14] She won scholarships worth £600 for the first year at Girton College, Cambridge,[4][11] where she was a M. T. Meyer research student.[15] Her fellowships and awards included a University of Wales Fellowship (1938–1940) and a Department of Scientific and Industrial Research Senior Research Award (1939–1941).[3] After three years as a research student, one of them in Cardiff, two in Cambridge,[5] she obtained her PhD from Cambridge University in 1940, with the thesis Two-dimensional potential theory, with special reference to aerodynamic problems.[16] Her Cambridge advisor was Geoffrey Ingram Taylor.[5][17][18]

Professional career

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Morris graduated with a PhD in 1940 and became a faculty member in Cardiff in 1941,[19] where she stayed for the rest of her career. She supervised the 1955 PhD thesis of David Edmunds, who later won the Pólya Prize.[20] Together with Roy Chisholm, Morris wrote a textbook on Mathematical Methods in Physics.[21] Although it was lacking in rigour,[22][23] it was reprinted several times, and, according to Chisholm, "in the late 1960's, North-Holland told us that we had broken their publication record for technical books. We even made a little money."[24] In 1972–1973, while she was a Reader in Fluid Dynamics, she served as one of the first female heads of a mathematics department in the UK, possibly the first at a university.[25][26]

Morris was a member of the London Mathematical Society (since 1945),[27] of the Mathematical Association, where she was President of the Cardiff Branch 1955–1956,[28][29] and a Fellow of the Cambridge Philosophical Society until 1983.[30] She was a prolific contributor to Mathematical Reviews, with 188 contributions credited to her name.[31]

Publications

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Morris published research articles on potential theory, fluid dynamics (especially moving aerofoils), and mathematical elasticity theory.

References

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  1. ^ a b "R Morris". South Wales Argus. 27 October 2011. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  2. ^ a b Osment, Bernard (May–June 2019). "Renowned Mathematician". Risca Directory. p. 12. Archived from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d Girton College (University of Cambridge) (1948). Girton College Register: 1869–1946. Privately printed for Girton College. p. 549. Archived from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  4. ^ a b c "A Mathematical Genius". The Times. 28 July 1938. p. 16. ISSN 0140-0460. Archived from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  5. ^ a b c Morris, Rosa Margaret (1940). Two-dimensional potential theory, with special reference to aerodynamic problems (PhD thesis). Cambridge University.
  6. ^ a b Daily Mail Correspondent (29 July 1938). "She Beat Science — By Mistake". Daily Mail. p. 9. ISSN 0307-7578. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  7. ^ Daily Mail Reporter (30 July 1938). "R. A. F. Works on Girl's Formula". Daily Mail. p. 7. ISSN 0307-7578. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  8. ^ Morris, Rosa M. (October 1937). "Two-Dimensional Potential Problems". Mathematical Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society. 33 (4): 474–484. Bibcode:1937PCPS...33..474M. doi:10.1017/S0305004100077616. ISSN 0305-0041. S2CID 120558044.
  9. ^ Morris, Rosa M. (3 August 1937). "The two-dimensional hydrodynamical theory of moving aerofoils—I". Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Mathematical and Physical Sciences. 161 (906): 406–419. Bibcode:1937RSPSA.161..406M. doi:10.1098/rspa.1937.0152.
  10. ^ Stevenson, A. C. (1938). "Flexure with Shear and Associated Torsion in Prisms of Uni-Axial and Asymmetric Cross-Sections". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Mathematical and Physical Sciences. 237 (776): 181. ISSN 0080-4614. JSTOR 91357.
  11. ^ a b "A Mathematical Genius" (PDF). The British Journal of Nursing. 86: 221. August 1938. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  12. ^ "A Woman's Triumph in Aero-Dynamics". The Woman Teacher. 30 September 1938. p. 383. Archived from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  13. ^ "The Paris News from Paris, Texas". The Paris News. Paris, Texas. 4 September 1938. p. 28. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  14. ^ "Lead Daily Call from Lead, South Dakota". 30 August 1938. p. 4. Archived from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  15. ^ "University News". The Daily Telegraph. 2 July 1938. pp. [18]. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  16. ^ Cambridge, University of (1941). Abstracts of Dissertations Approved for the Ph.D., M.Sc., and M.Litt. Degrees in the University of Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. Archived from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  17. ^ Board of Research Studies (12 March 1940). "Annual Report of the Board of Research Studies". Cambridge University Reporter. LXX No.26 (3239). Cambridge University: 631.
  18. ^ "Rosa M. Morris". Mathematics Genealogy Project. Archived from the original on 3 July 2020. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  19. ^ "Morris, Rosa". mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  20. ^ Malcolm Brown, B.; Lang, Jan; Wood, Ian G. (2012). "David Edmunds' Mathematical Work". Spectral theory, function spaces and inequalities : new techniques and recent trends. Basel: Birkhäuser. pp. ix–x. ISBN 978-3-0348-0263-5. OCLC 761201127.
  21. ^ Chisholm, John Stephen Roy; Morris, Rosa M (1964). Mathematical methods in physics. Amsterdam: North-Holland. OCLC 610944321.
  22. ^ Mullin, A. A. (1 January 1966). "Mathematical Methods in Physics. J. S. R. Chisholm and R. M. Morris". American Journal of Physics. 34 (1): 79. doi:10.1119/1.1972796. ISSN 0002-9505. Archived from the original on 1 January 2018. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  23. ^ S., D. (1966). "Review of Mathematical Methods in Physics". Mathematics of Computation. 20 (93): 188–189. doi:10.2307/2004316. ISSN 0025-5718. JSTOR 2004316. S2CID 123322185.
  24. ^ Chisholm, Roy. "Cardiff 1954 – 62". Roy Chisholm. Archived from the original on 27 January 2019. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  25. ^ Hobbs, Cathy (July 2015). "The first female head of department of mathematical sciences?" (PDF). Newsletter of the London Mathematical Society (449): 21–22. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 January 2021. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  26. ^ "History of Mathematics at Cardiff". Cardiff University. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  27. ^ Society, London Mathematical (1976). List of Members. p. 32.
  28. ^ Williams, W. H. (1956). "Report of the Cardiff Branch, 1955–56". The Mathematical Gazette. 40 (332): iii–iv. doi:10.1017/S0025557200222171. ISSN 0025-5572. JSTOR 3609719. S2CID 185054236.
  29. ^ Williams, W. H. (1957). "Cardiff Branch: Report for the Session 1956-1957". The Mathematical Gazette. 41 (337): xix. doi:10.1017/S0025557200037128. ISSN 0025-5572. JSTOR 3609240. S2CID 184617261.
  30. ^ "Proceedings of the meetings held during the session 1983–1984". Mathematical Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society. 96 (3): 555–563. November 1984. Bibcode:1984MPCPS..96..555.. doi:10.1017/S0305004100062496. ISSN 1469-8064. S2CID 251092322.
  31. ^ "Items reviewed by Morris, Rosa M.". mathscinet.ams.org. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
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