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Charles L. Bouton

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Charles Leonard Bouton
Born(1869-04-25)April 25, 1869
St. Louis
DiedFebruary 20, 1922(1922-02-20) (aged 52)
Cambridge
Resting placeMount Auburn Cemetery
EducationWashington University in St. Louis
Leipzig University
Occupation(s)mathematician, university teacher
Employer(s)Washington University in St. Louis
Harvard University
Spouse
Mary G. Spencer
(m. 1907)

Charles Leonard Bouton (April 25, 1869 – February 20, 1922) was an American mathematician.

Early life and education

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Charles L. Bouton was born in St. Louis, Missouri, where his father was an engineer.[1] He studied in the public schools of St. Louis. He later received a Master of Science degree from Washington University in St. Louis.[1] In 1898 he received his doctorate from Leipzig University. His Ph.D. advisor was Sophus Lie.[2]

He married Mary G. Spencer in Baltimore on June 15, 1907.[3]

Teaching

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He taught at the Smith Academy, Washington University and Harvard University.[1] From 1900 to 1902 Bouton was an editor of the Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society.[1]

He died at his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts on February 20, 1922.[4]

Publications

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In 1902 Bouton published a solution of the game Nim.[5] This result is today viewed as the birth of combinatorial game theory.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Osgood, William F.; Coolidge, Julian L.; Chase, George H. (1922), "Charles Leonard Bouton (In Memoriam)" (PDF), Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society, 28 (3): 123–124, doi:10.1090/s0002-9904-1922-03508-2
  2. ^ Charles Leonard Bouton at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
  3. ^ "Weddings: Bouton-Spencer". The Baltimore Sun. June 16, 1907. p. 6. Archived from the original on August 4, 2024. Retrieved August 4, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Death of Professor Bouton". Harvard Alumni Bulletin. Vol. XXIV, no. 22. March 2, 1922. p. 526. Retrieved May 3, 2023 – via Google Books.
  5. ^ Bouton, C. L. (1901–1902), "Nim, a game with a complete mathematical theory", Annals of Mathematics, 2, 3 (1/4): 35–39, doi:10.2307/1967631, JSTOR 1967631
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