Philip Jourdain | |
|---|---|
 Drawing by his sister Millicent (1909) | |
| Born | 16 October 1879 |
| Died | 1 October 1919 (aged 39) |
| Occupation(s) | Editor and mathematician |
| Spouse | Laura Jourdain |
| Parent(s) | Emily Clay and Francis Jourdain |
Philip Edward Bertrand Jourdain (16 October 1879 – 1 October 1919) was a British mathematician, logician and follower of Bertrand Russell.
He was born in Ashbourne in Derbyshire[1] one of a large family belonging to Emily Clay and his father Francis Jourdain (who was the vicar at Ashbourne).[2] His sister Eleanor Jourdain was an English academic and author. Another sister, Margaret (1876–1951), was an authority on the history of fine English home-furnishings, and the life-long companion of the novelist Ivy Compton-Burnett.
Jourdain was partly disabled by Friedreich's ataxia. He corresponded with Georg Cantor and Gottlob Frege, and took a close interest in the paradoxes related to Russell's paradox, formulating the card paradox version of the liar paradox.[2] He corresponded with Ludwig Wittgenstein, meeting with him in Cambridge to discuss Frege's book Grundgesetze der Arithmetik, parts of which Jourdain had prepared a translation. He also worked on algebraic logic, and the history of science with Isaac Newton as a particular study. He was London editor for The Monist.
Near the end of his life Jourdain became increasingly obsessed by trying to prove the axiom of choice, and published several incorrect proofs of it. Littlewood (1986, p.129) describes Jourdain on his deathbed still arguing with him about his (incorrect) proof of the axiom of choice. Later, the independence of the axiom of choice was established.
The following works of Philip Jourdain are available from Internet Archive:
Jordain acted as editor for
Jourdain made the following translations:
