Person Heaviside; Oliver (1850 - 1925) Heaviside Oliver 1850 - 1925 British Male 55 King Street, Camden Town, London, England 18 May 1850 Hornefield, Lower Warberry, Torquay, Devon 03/02/1925 19250203 Burial: Paignton cemetery, Devon

Paignton, Devon (1890)

Physics Electrical engineering Career: Had Scarlet Fever when young, leaving him partially deaf. Still became a good telegraph operator. Worked for Great Northern Telephone Company, Newcastle; suffered from deafness and was forced to retire (1874); studied electricity, especially Maxwell's Equations for three years, and telephony. Adapted complex numbers for use in electric circuits, as well as developed techniques for applying Laplace Transforms for the solution of differential equations. Co-invented vector analysis calculus. Formulated the 'operator' method for use in linear differential equations, replacing the differential operator (d/dx) by a new variable (p) transforming a differential equation into an algebraic equation, which is much easier to solve. This simple solution to an algebraic equation can then be transformed back into a differential equation solution by using 'tables of conversion' which are already worked out. In 1902 he prdicted a 'layer' of the earth's atmosphere could refract radio waves (now called the ionosphere). His prediction explained how Marconi had famously managed to send the first ever radio signal across the Atlantic Ocean in 1901. This ionized layer in our atmosphere was called the 'Heaviside Layer' for many years. Its existence and predicted abililty to refract certain high frequencies was finally proved in 1924. Awarded the first Faraday Medal, a bronze medal established in 1922 to commemmorate the 50th Anniversary of the first Ordinary Meeting of the Society of Telegraph Engineers (now the Institution of Engineering and Technology). Honours: Hon MIEE Nephew of Sir Charles Wheatstone (FRS 1836) of the Wheatstone (electrical) Bridge fame Fellow 04/06/1891 Sources: Bulloch's Roll; DNB; DSB Obituaries: Proc Roy Soc Series A 1926 vol 110 pp xiv-xv signed by A R International Standard Archival Authority Record for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families - ISAAR(CPF) - Ottawa 1996 ISBN 0-9696035-3-3 National Council on Archives, Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997 18 May 1850 - 3 Feb 1925 NA2861 21/11/2001 Andyg Pmab 15/09/2023 RS_NET\HirraA Yes http://viaf.org/viaf/12382540 144102f8-5c19-4c33-a827-b605aa30e6ed