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== Early life and education == == Early life and education ==
Morris was born in ], ],<ref name="obit"/> the youngest child of John and Mary Aline Morris, {{nee|Roberts}}. Her father, who died when she was young, was the headmaster of the elementary school in Rogerstone,<ref name="risca">{{Cite magazine |last=Osment |first=Bernard |date=May-June 2019 |title=Renowned Mathematician |url=https://docplayer.net/152737954-Risca-directory-issue-64-may-june-2019-sw-directories.html |magazine=Risca Directory |page=12 |access-date=2021-04-05}}</ref><ref name="girton">{{Cite book |last=Girton College (University of Cambridge) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mIefAAAAMAAJ&newbks=0&printsec=frontcover&dq=rosa+margaret+morris+1914&q=rosa+margaret+morris+1914&hl=en |title=Girton College Register: 1869-1946 |date=1948 |publisher=Privately printed for Girton College |pages=549 |language=en}}</ref> and her mother was a schoolmistress.<ref name="times">{{Cite news |date=1938-07-28 |title=A Mathematical Genius |language=English |pages=16 |work=The Times |issn=0140-0460}}</ref> Morris first attended Rogerstone School, then Pontywaun County School, ], ], from 1926 to 1932, with Distinctions in Pure and Applied Mathematics.<ref name="risca"/> She studied mathematics at the ] in ], graduating with a first class degree in 1936 and continuing as a research student until 1938.<ref name="girton"/> Her academic teachers included ].<ref name="dailymail">{{Cite news |last=Daily Mail Correspondent |date=1938-07-29 |title=She Beat Science — By Mistake |language=English |pages=9 |work=Daily Mail |url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/EE1866381866/GDCS?u=univnott&sid=zotero&xid=3ed71b5a |access-date=2021-04-06 |issn=0307-7578}}</ref> During this time, Morris, aged 23, published her first articles, on potential theory<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Morris |first=Rosa M. |date=October 1937 |title=Two-Dimensional Potential Problems |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0305004100077616/type/journal_article |journal=Mathematical Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society |language=en |volume=33 |issue=4 |pages=474–484 |doi=10.1017/S0305004100077616 |issn=0305-0041}}</ref> and aerodynamics.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Morris |first=Rosa M. |date=1937-08-03 |title=The two-dimensional hydrodynamical theory of moving aerofoils—I |url=https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspa.1937.0152 |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series A - Mathematical and Physical Sciences |volume=161 |issue=906 |pages=406–419 |doi=10.1098/rspa.1937.0152}}</ref> Her approach showed "the advantages of using the complex variable in boundary problems of mathematical physics"<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Stevenson |first=A. C. |date=1938 |title=Flexure with Shear and Associated Torsion in Prisms of Uni-Axial and Asymmetric Cross-Sections |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/91357 |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Mathematical and Physical Sciences |volume=237 |issue=776 |page=181 |pages=161–229 |issn=0080-4614}}</ref> and made national news, including an interview,<ref name="dailymail"/> with ] stories focusing on her as a "mathematical genius", having "found a method of solving problems in aerodynamics which have hitherto defied all mathematicians". She was described as a "keen hockey player and accomplished dressmaker", and University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire Principal ] stated that at her examination, she would have been entitled to 130 percent compared to the next best student, and a special case had to be made for her to avoid handicapping other students.<ref name="times"/><ref name="bjn">{{Cite journal |date=August 1938 |title=A Mathematical Genius |url=https://rcnarchive.rcn.org.uk/data/VOLUME086-1938/page221-volume86-august1938.pdf |journal=] |volume=86 |pages=221}}</ref><ref name="NUWT">{{Cite magazine |last=(NUWT) |first=National Union of Women Teachers |date=1938-09-30 |title=A Woman's Triumph in Aero-Dynamics |url=https://jstor.org/stable/10.2307/community.28299230 |page=383}}</ref> Short reports on her achievements were also printed in American local newspapers.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1938-09-04 |title=The Paris News from Paris, Texas |language=en |page=28 |work=The Paris News |location=Paris, Texas |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/7933558/ |access-date=2021-04-06}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=1938-08-30 |title=Lead Daily Call from Lead, South Dakota |page=4 |language=en |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/93913148/ |access-date=2021-04-06}}</ref> She won scholarships worth £600 for the first year at ],<ref name="times"/><ref name="bjn" /> where she was a ] research student.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1938-07-02 |title=University News |language=English |pages= |work=The Daily Telegraph |url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/IO0708413053/TGRH?u=univnott&sid=zotero&xid=62d92897 |access-date=2021-04-06 |issn=0307-1235}}</ref> Her fellowships and awards included a University of Wales Fellowship (1938-1940) and a ] Senior Research Award (1939-1941).<ref name="girton"/> Morris was born in ], ],<ref name="obit"/> the youngest child of John and Mary Aline Morris, {{nee|Roberts}}. Her father, who died when she was young, was the headmaster of the elementary school in Rogerstone,<ref name="risca">{{Cite magazine |last=Osment |first=Bernard |date=May-June 2019 |title=Renowned Mathematician |url=https://docplayer.net/152737954-Risca-directory-issue-64-may-june-2019-sw-directories.html |magazine=Risca Directory |page=12 |access-date=2021-04-05}}</ref><ref name="girton">{{Cite book |last=Girton College (University of Cambridge) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mIefAAAAMAAJ&newbks=0&printsec=frontcover&dq=rosa+margaret+morris+1914&q=rosa+margaret+morris+1914&hl=en |title=Girton College Register: 1869-1946 |date=1948 |publisher=Privately printed for Girton College |pages=549 |language=en}}</ref> and her mother was a schoolmistress.<ref name="times">{{Cite news |date=1938-07-28 |title=A Mathematical Genius |language=English |pages=16 |work=The Times |issn=0140-0460}}</ref> Morris first attended Rogerstone School, then Pontywaun County School, ], ], from 1926 to 1932, with Distinctions in Pure and Applied Mathematics.<ref name="risca"/> She studied mathematics at the ] in ], graduating with a first class degree in 1936 and continuing as a research student until 1938.<ref name="girton"/> Her academic teachers included ].<ref name="dailymail">{{Cite news |last=Daily Mail Correspondent |date=1938-07-29 |title=She Beat Science — By Mistake |language=English |pages=9 |work=Daily Mail |url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/EE1866381866/GDCS?u=univnott&sid=zotero&xid=3ed71b5a |access-date=2021-04-06 |issn=0307-7578}}</ref> During this time, Morris, aged 23, published her first articles, on potential theory<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Morris |first=Rosa M. |date=October 1937 |title=Two-Dimensional Potential Problems |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0305004100077616/type/journal_article |journal=Mathematical Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society |language=en |volume=33 |issue=4 |pages=474–484 |doi=10.1017/S0305004100077616 |issn=0305-0041}}</ref> and aerodynamics.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Morris |first=Rosa M. |date=1937-08-03 |title=The two-dimensional hydrodynamical theory of moving aerofoils—I |url=https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspa.1937.0152 |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series A - Mathematical and Physical Sciences |volume=161 |issue=906 |pages=406–419 |doi=10.1098/rspa.1937.0152}}</ref> Her approach showed "the advantages of using the complex variable in boundary problems of mathematical physics"<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Stevenson |first=A. C. |date=1938 |title=Flexure with Shear and Associated Torsion in Prisms of Uni-Axial and Asymmetric Cross-Sections |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/91357 |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Mathematical and Physical Sciences |volume=237 |issue=776 |page=181 <!-- |pages=161–229 --> |issn=0080-4614}}</ref> and made national news, including an interview,<ref name="dailymail"/> with ] stories focusing on her as a "mathematical genius", having "found a method of solving problems in aerodynamics which have hitherto defied all mathematicians". She was described as a "keen hockey player and accomplished dressmaker", and University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire Principal ] stated that at her examination, she would have been entitled to 130 percent compared to the next best student, and a special case had to be made for her to avoid handicapping other students.<ref name="times"/><ref name="bjn">{{Cite journal |date=August 1938 |title=A Mathematical Genius |url=https://rcnarchive.rcn.org.uk/data/VOLUME086-1938/page221-volume86-august1938.pdf |journal=] |volume=86 |pages=221}}</ref><ref name="NUWT">{{Cite magazine |last=(NUWT) |first=National Union of Women Teachers |date=1938-09-30 |title=A Woman's Triumph in Aero-Dynamics |url=https://jstor.org/stable/10.2307/community.28299230 |page=383}}</ref> Short reports on her achievements were also printed in American local newspapers.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1938-09-04 |title=The Paris News from Paris, Texas |language=en |page=28 |work=The Paris News |location=Paris, Texas |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/7933558/ |access-date=2021-04-06}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=1938-08-30 |title=Lead Daily Call from Lead, South Dakota |page=4 |language=en |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/93913148/ |access-date=2021-04-06}}</ref> She won scholarships worth £600 for the first year at ],<ref name="times"/><ref name="bjn" /> where she was a ] research student.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1938-07-02 |title=University News |language=English |pages= |work=The Daily Telegraph |url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/IO0708413053/TGRH?u=univnott&sid=zotero&xid=62d92897 |access-date=2021-04-06 |issn=0307-1235}}</ref> Her fellowships and awards included a University of Wales Fellowship (1938-1940) and a ] Senior Research Award (1939-1941).<ref name="girton"/>
In 1940, she obtained a PhD from ] with the thesis ''Two-dimensional potential theory, with special reference to aerodynamic problems.''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cambridge |first=University of |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I4wcAAAAMAAJ&newbks=0&printsec=frontcover&q=%2522rosa%2520margaret%2520morris%2522&hl=en |title=Abstracts of Dissertations Approved for the Ph.D., M.Sc., and M.Litt. Degrees in the University of Cambridge |date=1941 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |language=en}}</ref> According to the ], her advisor was ].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rosa M. Morris |url=https://www.mathgenealogy.org/id.php?id=67329 |website=]}}</ref> In 1940, she obtained a PhD from ] with the thesis ''Two-dimensional potential theory, with special reference to aerodynamic problems.''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cambridge |first=University of |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I4wcAAAAMAAJ&newbks=0&printsec=frontcover&q=%2522rosa%2520margaret%2520morris%2522&hl=en |title=Abstracts of Dissertations Approved for the Ph.D., M.Sc., and M.Litt. Degrees in the University of Cambridge |date=1941 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |language=en}}</ref> According to the ], her advisor was ].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rosa M. Morris |url=https://www.mathgenealogy.org/id.php?id=67329 |website=]}}</ref>


Revision as of 12:11, 7 April 2021

British applied mathematician

Rosa Margaret Morris
A young woman on a deckchairRosa Morris in her garden, 1938
Born(1914-07-16)July 16, 1914
Rogerstone
DiedOctober 15, 2011(2011-10-15) (aged 97)
Resting placeChurchyard of Bethesda Baptist Church, Rogerstone
CitizenshipBritish
EducationUniversity College of South Wales and Monmouthshire
Alma materUniversity of Cambridge
AwardsUniversity of Wales Fellowship, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research Senior Research Award
Scientific career
FieldsApplied mathematics
InstitutionsUniversity College of South Wales and Monmouthshire, Cardiff
Thesis Two-dimensional potential theory, with special reference to aerodynamic problems  (1940)
Academic advisorsGeorge Henry Livens, Geoffrey Ingram Taylor
Doctoral studentsDavid Edmunds

Rosa Margaret Morris (16 July 1914-15 October 2011) was a Welsh applied mathematician, working in potential theory and aerodynamics. When she was 23, her research and examination results made national news. In her later career, she taught at the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire (now the University of Cardiff), where she co-authored a successful textbook on Mathematical Methods of Physics and became one of the first female Heads of School of Mathematics in the United Kingdom.

Early life and education

Morris was born in Rogerstone, Monmouthshire, the youngest child of John and Mary Aline Morris, née Roberts. Her father, who died when she was young, was the headmaster of the elementary school in Rogerstone, and her mother was a schoolmistress. Morris first attended Rogerstone School, then Pontywaun County School, Pontymister, Risca, from 1926 to 1932, with Distinctions in Pure and Applied Mathematics. She studied mathematics at the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire in Cardiff, graduating with a first class degree in 1936 and continuing as a research student until 1938. Her academic teachers included George Henry Livens. During this time, Morris, aged 23, published her first articles, on potential theory and aerodynamics. Her approach showed "the advantages of using the complex variable in boundary problems of mathematical physics" and made national news, including an interview, with human interest stories focusing on her as a "mathematical genius", having "found a method of solving problems in aerodynamics which have hitherto defied all mathematicians". She was described as a "keen hockey player and accomplished dressmaker", and University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire Principal Frederick Rees stated that at her examination, she would have been entitled to 130 percent compared to the next best student, and a special case had to be made for her to avoid handicapping other students. Short reports on her achievements were also printed in American local newspapers. She won scholarships worth £600 for the first year at Girton College, Cambridge, where she was a M. T. Meyer research student. Her fellowships and awards included a University of Wales Fellowship (1938-1940) and a Department of Scientific and Industrial Research Senior Research Award (1939-1941). In 1940, she obtained a PhD from Cambridge University with the thesis Two-dimensional potential theory, with special reference to aerodynamic problems. According to the Mathematics Genealogy Project, her advisor was Geoffrey Ingram Taylor.

Professional career

She graduated with a PhD in 1940 and became a faculty member in Cardiff in 1941, where she stayed for the rest of her career. She supervised the 1955 PhD thesis of David Edmunds, who later won the Pólya Prize. Together with Roy Chisholm, Morris wrote a textbook on Mathematical Methods in Physics. Although it was lacking in rigour, it was reprinted several times, and, according to Chisholm, "in the late 1960's, North-Holland told us that we had broken their publication record for technical books. We even made a little money." In the 1970s, while she was a Reader in Fluid Dynamics, she served as one of the first female heads of a mathematics department in the UK, possibly the first at a university.

Morris was a member of the London Mathematical Society (since 1945) and of the Mathematical Association, where she was President of the Cardiff Branch 1955-1956, and a Fellow of the Cambridge Philosophical Society until 1983. She was a prolific contributor to Mathematical Reviews, with 188 contributions credited to her name.

Publications

Morris published research articles on potential theory, fluid dynamics (especially moving aerofoils), and mathematical elasticity theory.

References

  1. ^ "R Morris". South Wales Argus. 27 October 2011. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  2. ^ Osment, Bernard (May–June 2019). "Renowned Mathematician". Risca Directory. p. 12. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  3. ^ Girton College (University of Cambridge) (1948). Girton College Register: 1869-1946. Privately printed for Girton College. p. 549.
  4. ^ "A Mathematical Genius". The Times. 28 July 1938. p. 16. ISSN 0140-0460.
  5. ^ Daily Mail Correspondent (29 July 1938). "She Beat Science — By Mistake". Daily Mail. p. 9. ISSN 0307-7578. Retrieved 6 April 2021. {{cite news}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  6. Morris, Rosa M. (October 1937). "Two-Dimensional Potential Problems". Mathematical Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society. 33 (4): 474–484. doi:10.1017/S0305004100077616. ISSN 0305-0041.
  7. Morris, Rosa M. (3 August 1937). "The two-dimensional hydrodynamical theory of moving aerofoils—I". Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series A - Mathematical and Physical Sciences. 161 (906): 406–419. doi:10.1098/rspa.1937.0152.
  8. Stevenson, A. C. (1938). "Flexure with Shear and Associated Torsion in Prisms of Uni-Axial and Asymmetric Cross-Sections". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Mathematical and Physical Sciences. 237 (776): 181. ISSN 0080-4614.
  9. ^ "A Mathematical Genius" (PDF). The British Journal of Nursing. 86: 221. August 1938.
  10. (NUWT), National Union of Women Teachers (30 September 1938). "A Woman's Triumph in Aero-Dynamics". p. 383. {{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  11. "The Paris News from Paris, Texas". The Paris News. Paris, Texas. 4 September 1938. p. 28. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  12. "Lead Daily Call from Lead, South Dakota". 30 August 1938. p. 4. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  13. "University News". The Daily Telegraph. 2 July 1938. pp. . ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  14. Cambridge, University of (1941). Abstracts of Dissertations Approved for the Ph.D., M.Sc., and M.Litt. Degrees in the University of Cambridge. Cambridge University Press.
  15. "Rosa M. Morris". Mathematics Genealogy Project.
  16. "Morris, Rosa". mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  17. "David Edmunds' Mathematical Work". Spectral theory, function spaces and inequalities : new techniques and recent trends. Basel. 2012. pp. ix–x. ISBN 978-3-0348-0263-5. OCLC 761201127.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  18. Chisholm, John Stephen Roy; Morris, Rosa M (1964). Mathematical methods in physics. Amsterdam: North-Holland. OCLC 610944321.
  19. Mullin, A. A.; Morris, R. M. (1 January 1966). "Mathematical Methods in Physics". American Journal of Physics. 34 (1): 79–79. doi:10.1119/1.1972796. ISSN 0002-9505.
  20. S., D. (1966). "Review of Mathematical Methods in Physics". Mathematics of Computation. 20 (93): 188–189. doi:10.2307/2004316. ISSN 0025-5718.
  21. Chisholm, Roy. "Cardiff 1954 - 62". Roy Chisholm. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  22. Hobbs, Cathy (July 2015). "The first female head of department of mathematical sciences?" (PDF). Newsletter of the London Mathematical Society (449): 21–22.
  23. Society, London Mathematical (1976). List of Members. p. 32.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  24. Williams, W. H. (1956). "Report of the Cardiff Branch, 1955-56". The Mathematical Gazette. 40 (332): iii–iv. ISSN 0025-5572.
  25. Williams, W. H. (1957). "Cardiff Branch: Report for the Session 1956-1957". The Mathematical Gazette. 41 (337): xix–xix. ISSN 0025-5572.
  26. "Proceedings of the meetings held during the session 1983–1984". Mathematical Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society. 96 (3): 555–563. November 1984. doi:10.1017/S0305004100062496. ISSN 1469-8064.
  27. "Items reviewed by Morris, Rosa M.". mathscinet.ams.org. Retrieved 6 April 2021.

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