Alfred North Whitehead 1861-1947

  • Birth and Childhood

    Alfred and Maria Whitehead gave birth to Alfred North Whitehead on February 15, 1861. He was the youngest of four children and was treated like he was a baby for years. While young, Whitehead was home schooled because his parents didn't think he was ready for the outside world yet. He learned very few mathematics before he arrive to public school. Once he began attending public school, his knowledge began to skyrocket.
    Herstein, Gary L. "Alfred North Whitehead (1861—1947)." Web. 22 Sept. 2020.
  • College Progression

    In October of 1880, Whitehead attended Trinity College, Cambridge on a mathematics scholarship. After winning multiple scholarships and making a bigger name for himself, he won a fellowship due to his dissertation on Maxwell's theory of electricity and magnetism.
    https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Whitehead/
  • Principia Mathematica

    Whitehead met Bertrand Russell somewhere around 1890 at Cambridge. They developed a relationship and published a three volume book named "Principia Mathematica". At the end of the publication for this book, Whitehead began turning his focus towards the philosophy of science. Vol. 1 was published in 1910, Vol. 2 in 1912 and Vol. 3 in 1913.
    Whitehead, Alfred North, and Bertrand Russell. Principia Mathematica. Cambridge University Press, 1913.
  • Process and Reality

    Whitehead became a philosophy professor at Harvard in 1924 even though he didn't have formal education in the topic. During this time he was free to "explore the questions of metaphysics and epistemology that would culminate in the process philosophy". This led directly into his book "Process and Reality" which is about Whitehead's complex cosmology.
    Whitehead, Alfred North. Process and Reality: an Essay in Cosmology. The University Press, 1929.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sg961QMomJ4
  • End of Life

    Alfred North Whitehead died on December 30, 1947 while living in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was recognized as one of the foremost mathematicians, philosophers, and metaphysicians.