John Crank

John Crank ( born February 6, 1916 in Hindley, Lancashire, United Kingdom, † 3 October 2006) was an English mathematician whose work on the numerical solution of partial differential equations, particularly the heat equation, were groundbreaking.

Life

Crank graduated from 1934-1938 at the University of Manchester to study, where he earned his Master of Science ( MSc). During the Second World War, he was drafted into military service and worked in the field of ballistics. After the war he worked as a mathematical physicist at Courtaulds Fundamental Research Laboratory. 1953 doctorate Crank at Manchester University as a Doctor of Science ( DSc ). In 1957 he became head of the Mathematics Department at Brunel College in Acton (later Brunel University), where he was appointed professor in 1966. Crank was two-term Vice President of Brunel University before he retired in 1981. A building of Brunel University and an endowment founded by him Gardens are named after John Crank.

John Crank was married 63 years. The marriage sprang two children.

Work

John Crank developed together with Phyllis Nicolson the Crank -Nicolson method, a finite difference method for the numerical solution of the heat equation. In his book " The Mathematics of Diffusion", he published analytical and numerical solutions of this partial differential equation for various boundary and initial conditions. He also dealt with the solution of mathematical models that are used to describe, for example, crystal growth, and freezing processes. His work on "moving boundary" issues was fundamental.

Publications

  • " The Mathematics of Diffusion", Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, 1980, ISBN 978-0198534112
  • "Free and Moving Boundary Problems", Clarendon Press, reprint, 1987, ISBN 978-0198533702

Source

  • Jack Howlett and J. C. Newby: Foreword. ( Preface to the hard edition on the occasion of John Cranks 80th birthday ), Advances in Computational Mathematics 6, 1, iii - vi, 1996, doi: 10.1007/BF02127692
  • Brunel University (English )
  • Short biography ( School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of St Andrews, Scotland) (English )
  • Obituary for telegraph.co.uk (English )
  • Mathematicians ( 20th century)
  • University teachers ( Brunel University)
  • Briton
  • Born 1916
  • Died in 2006
  • Man
October 3 England Mathematical physics Mathematical analysis boundary condition Digital Object Identifier
444629
de