Arthur Cayley By: Carson Dial

Who is Arthur Cayley? Arthur Cayley was a British mathemetician who helped found the Modern British School of pure Mathematics Cayley was born in 1821 in London, England He received a Copley Medal in 1882 He went to Trinity College Died in 1895

Life of Arthur Cayley 1821-1849 Arthur spent the first eight years of his life in St. Petersburg before his family settled permanently in Blackheath near London. He was sent to a private school until he was 14 when he went to King’s College School. Later, the headmaster advised his father Henry Cayley to allow him to go to the University of Cambridge

Life of Arthur Cayley 1821-1849 cont. At age 17 Arthur Cayley enrolled in Trinity College Cambridge. This was highly unusual since he was so young. Later at age 20 Cayley contributed three papers to the Cambridge Mathematical Journal. Cayley’s tutor at Cambridge was George Peacock. Soon Cayley earned his undergraduate degree. Next his goal was to earn his M.A. degree and win over a fellowship by competitive examination.

Life of Arthur Cayley 1821-1849 cont. Cayley resided at Cambridge for 4 more years and took some pupils but his main work was another 28 entries for the Mathematical Journal. At age 25 he chose to follow a career path in law and became a lawyer for 14 years.

Life of Arthur Cayley 1850-1875 In 1860 at age 39 Cayley quit his career as a lawyer. Three years later he was elected a professor back at Cambridge College, he was 42.

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