Norman Johnson (mathematician)

Norman Woodason Johnson (November 12, 1930 – July 13, 2017) was a mathematician at Wheaton College, Norton, Massachusetts.[1]

This article is about the pure mathematician Norman Johnson. For the statistician, see Norman Lloyd Johnson.

Norman Johnson
Born(1930-11-12)November 12, 1930
Chicago
DiedJuly 13, 2017(2017-07-13) (aged 86)
CitizenshipUnited States
Alma materUniversity of Toronto
Known forJohnson solid (1966)
Scientific career
FieldsMathematics
InstitutionsWheaton College, Norton, Massachusetts
Doctoral advisorH. S. M. Coxeter

Early life and education

Norman Johnson was born on November 12, 1930 in Chicago. His father had a bookstore and published a local newspaper.[1]

Johnson earned his undergraduate mathematics degree in 1953 at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota[2] followed by a master's degree from the University of Pittsburgh.[1] After graduating in 1953, Johnson did alternative civilian service as a conscientious objector.[1] He earned his PhD from the University of Toronto in 1966 with a dissertation title of The Theory of Uniform Polytopes and Honeycombs under the supervision of H. S. M. Coxeter. From there, he accepted a position in the Mathematics Department of Wheaton College in Massachusetts and taught until his retirement in 1998.[1]

Career

In 1966, he enumerated 92 convex non-uniform polyhedra with regular faces. Victor Zalgaller later proved (1969) that Johnson's list was complete, and the set is now known as the Johnson solids.[3][4]

Johnson is also credited with naming all the uniform star polyhedra and their duals, as published in Magnus Wenninger's model building books: Polyhedron models (1971) and Dual models (1983).[5]

Death and final works

He completed final edits for his book Geometries and Transformations just before his death on July 13, 2017, and nearly completed his manuscript on uniform polytopes.[1]

Works

References
  1. Weiss, Asia Ivić; Stehle, Eva Marie (2017). "Norman W. Johnson (12 November 1930 to 13 July 2017)". The Art of Discrete and Applied Mathematics. 1: #N1.01. doi:10.26493/2590-9770.1231.403. ISSN 2590-9770. Archived from the original on 2022-05-19. Retrieved 2022-05-19.
  2. "Norman Johnson '53". Carleton College. 2017-07-18. Archived from the original on 2022-05-19. Retrieved 2022-05-19.
  3. Hart, George W. "Johnson solids". George W. Hart. Archived from the original on 2021-08-30. Retrieved 2016-06-10.
  4. Weisstein, Eric W. "Johnson Solid". MathWorld. Retrieved 2016-06-10.
  5. Wenninger, Magnus (1983). Dual Models. Cambridge University Press. p. xii. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511569371. ISBN 978-0-521-54325-5. MR 0730208.
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