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Birth of Alfred North Whitehead
Whitehead was born in Ramsgate, Isle of Thanet, Kent, England. -
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Time at Cambridge
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Whitehead and Bertrand Russell Work together to create the "Principia Mathematica"
After Russell arrived as a student, Whitehead would take Russell under his wing as a pupil. They began working together on what would become the "Principia Mathematica", what they though would take a year ended up taking a decade to complete. Whitehead took inspiration from Giuseppe Peano They would use what they called "Mathematical logic" to reconstruct all existing mathematics. They completed the "Principia Mathematica" in three volumes, the last being published in 1913. -
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Time in London
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Whitehead and Einstein
Whitehead learned about Einstein's theory of General relativity in 1916. Whitehead admired Einstein but believed that his theory was not coherent with some of sciences basic intuitions. Whitehead set out to create alternative rendering of the theory of general relativity which passed “the narrow gauge”, which tests a theory’s empirical adequacy; and also passed “the broad gauge”, which tests a theory's coherence with our basic intuitions. -
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Time at Harvard
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Whitehead's philosophy
Whitehead rejected the works of Newton, and Hume stating the views of Newton and Hume are “gravely defective. They are right as far as they go. But they omit … our intuitive modes of understanding”. He subscribed to Maxwell's theory of electromagnetism. That the notion of self-sufficient isolation is not exemplified in modern physics. Whitehead believed everything is inter-connected, and in a sense everything is everywhere at all times. -
Death of Alfred North Whitehead
Whitehead would die December 30th 1947 in Cambridge, Massachusetts,