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Norman Johnson (mathematician)

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Norman Johnson
Born(1930-11-12)November 12, 1930
Chicago, United States
DiedJuly 13, 2017(2017-07-13) (aged 86)
Alma materUniversity of Toronto
Known forJohnson solid (1966)
Scientific career
FieldsMathematics
InstitutionsWheaton College, Norton, Massachusetts
Doctoral advisorH. S. M. Coxeter

Norman Woodason Johnson (November 12, 1930 – July 13, 2017) was a mathematician at Wheaton College, Norton, Massachusetts.[1]

Early life and education

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Norman Johnson was born on November 12, 1930 in Chicago. His father had a bookstore and published a local newspaper.[1]

Johnson earned his undergraduate mathematics degree in 1953 at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota[2] followed by a master's degree from the University of Pittsburgh.[1] After graduating in 1953, Johnson did alternative civilian service as a conscientious objector.[1] He earned his PhD from the University of Toronto in 1966 with a dissertation title of The Theory of Uniform Polytopes and Honeycombs under the supervision of H. S. M. Coxeter. From there, he accepted a position in the Mathematics Department of Wheaton College in Massachusetts and taught until his retirement in 1998.[1]

Career

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In 1966, he enumerated 92 convex non-uniform polyhedra with regular faces. Victor Zalgaller later proved (1969) that Johnson's list was complete, and the set is now known as the Johnson solids.[3][4]

Johnson is also credited with naming all the uniform star polyhedra and their duals, as published in Magnus Wenninger's model building books: Polyhedron models (1971) and Dual models (1983).[5]

Death and final works

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He completed final edits for his book Geometries and Transformations just before his death on July 13, 2017, and nearly completed his manuscript on uniform polytopes.[1]

Works

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f Weiss, Asia Ivić; Stehle, Eva Marie (2017). "Norman W. Johnson (12 November 1930 to 13 July 2017)". The Art of Discrete and Applied Mathematics. 1: #N1.01. doi:10.26493/2590-9770.1231.403. ISSN 2590-9770. Archived from the original on 2022-05-19. Retrieved 2022-05-19.
  2. ^ "Norman Johnson '53". Carleton College. 2017-07-18. Archived from the original on 2022-05-19. Retrieved 2022-05-19.
  3. ^ Hart, George W. "Johnson solids". George W. Hart. Archived from the original on 2021-08-30. Retrieved 2016-06-10.
  4. ^ Weisstein, Eric W. "Johnson Solid". MathWorld. Retrieved 2016-06-10.
  5. ^ Wenninger, Magnus (1983). Dual Models. Cambridge University Press. p. xii. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511569371. ISBN 978-0-521-54325-5. MR 0730208.
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