Kenneth O. May | |
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| Born | July 8, 1915 |
| Died | December 1977 |
| Known for | May's theorem |
Kenneth O. May (July 8, 1915 – December 1977) was an Americanmathematician andhistorian of mathematics, who developedMay's theorem.
May was a prime mover behind theInternational Commission on the History of Mathematics, and was the first editor of its journalHistoria Mathematica. Every four years the ICHM awards theKenneth O. May Prize for outstanding contributions to the history of mathematics.
Kenneth was born in 1915, the son of Samuel Chester "Sam" May (1887–1955) and Eleanor Ownsworth Perkin. His father, an alumnus of theUniversity of Oregon andYale Law School, practised law inPortland, Oregon beginning in 1913. After earning aMaster of Arts degree from Columbia University, Sam in 1920 began teachingpolitical science atDartmouth College, and later at theUniversity of California, Berkeley.[1]
At the University of California, Kenneth May played was elected toPhi Beta Kappa as a junior, and studied underGriffith C. Evans. May joined theCommunist Party and theInstitute of Pacific Relations, of which he served as secretary from 1933. May's mother died in a gas heater explosion at home in 1935. The following year he was granted theA.B. degree and named to theOrder of the Golden Bear. In 1937 May was granted a master's degree and was selected by theInstitute of Current World Affairs for foreign study. He participated in a Russian seminar and expected to study inRussia, but those plans fell through and he took up study at theLondon School of Economics.[1]
May was married on July 25, 1938. His wife, Ruth, had a leave of absence from her school for study at theSorbonne, so the couple studied there for a year. In 1939 they travelled, including to Moscow where May visited the Kharkov Engineering-Economics Institute. Returning to California, May became a teaching assistant, assigned to mathematics of finance and calculus with analytic geometry.[1]
May's work with the communist party led to alienation from his father and dismissal from his job. The affair received attention nationwide and was featured in aNew York Times article.[2] In 1942 he ran forCalifornia State Treasurer under the Communist banner. May's associations withJ. Robert Oppenheimer were used as evidence in his trial. In World War II May attempted to join up, but until Ruth filed for divorce in June 1942, he could not be drafted. May's unit was sent toKiska Island in the Aleutian chain. In May 1944, May married Jacqueline Bromley. His career in the military was recounted on page 4 ofStars and Stripes (Mediterranean Rome) on March 3, 1945.[1]
In 1946 May submitted his thesis,Mathematical Theory of Employment for the Ph.D. He then received a teaching appointment atCarleton College in Northfield, Minnesota. As a protest against theVietnam War, in 1966 May signed a vow of tax resistance.[3] He moved toCanada the same year.
May is remembered for hisBibliography and Research Manual of the History of Mathematics (1973) published byUniversity of Toronto Press. He made editorial contributions to theEncyclopedic Dictionary of Mathematics. He managed the compilation of an index for the first 80 volumes ofAmerican Mathematical Monthly and wrote numerousbook reviews. Philip Enros compiled a bibliography of May's writings that was published in 1984.[4]
