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Birth
Alfred North Whitehead was born into a family of six as the youngest child. His father (also Alfred Whitehead) taught him how to speak Latin and Greek between the ages of ten and twelve. His parents viewed him as a delicate child, and decided to homeschool him until the age of 14. O'Connor, J., & Robertson, E. (2003, October). Alfred North Whitehead - Biography. Retrieved March 21, 2023, from https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Whitehead/ -
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Attended Trinity College for Mathematics
Alfred began his collegiate journey in 1879 when he applied to Trinity College in Cambridge to study mathematics. After attaining a superb score on his entrance exam, he was awarded a scholarship and began classes in 1880. This scholarship would be the first of many. Eventually, he would be awarded a fellowship for his essay on Maxwell's theory of electricity. -
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Works for Trinity College
His love for education continued when he started teaching every term for the next 26 years for the institution in which he was a student. It was at this time he began his first major publication known as the “treatise on Universal Algebra” in 1891. It would take seven years to have his book published. In 1903 He would be inducted into the Royal Society for his role in mathematics. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sg961QMomJ4 -
First Major Publication
A Treatise on Universal Algebra with Applications 1898 Whitehead, Alfred North (1861-1947). (n.d.). Retrieved March 21, 2023, from https://www.harvardsquarelibrary.org/biographies/alfred-north-whitehead-2/ -
Took a Job at Harvard
Facing mandatory retirement age within the English academic system, Alfred moved his family back to the united states and was appointed a professor at Harvard University. It was here where he authored the “Process and Reality” in 1929 and “Adventures of ideas” in 1933. Marking a milestone career achievement. O'Connor, J., & Robertson, E. (2003, October). Alfred North Whitehead - Biography. Retrieved March 21, 2023, from https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Whitehead/. -
Death
"He died peacefully on December 30th, 1947. Per the explicit instructions in his will, Evelyn Whitehead burned all of his unpublished papers. This action has been the source of boundless regret for Whitehead scholars, but it was Whitehead’s belief that evaluations of his thought should be based exclusively on his published work." (Herstein)
Herstein, G. L. (n.d.). Alfred North Whitehead (1861—1947). Retrieved March 21, 2023, from https://iep.utm.edu/whitehed/