Background
The son of astronomer John Monroe Van Vleck, he graduated from Wesleyan University in 1884, attended Johns Hopkins in 1885-1887, and studied at Göttingen (Doctor of Philosophy, 1893).
(Excerpt from Selected Topics in the Theory of Divergent S...)
Excerpt from Selected Topics in the Theory of Divergent Series and of Continued Fractions Few more notable instances of the difference between theoretical and practical mathematics are to be found than in the treatment of divergent series. After the dawn of exact mathematics with Cauchy the theoretical mathematician shrank with horror from the divergent series and rejected it as a treacherous and dangerous tool. The astronomer, on the other hand, by the exigencies of his science was forced to employ it for the purpose of computation. The very notion of convergence is said by Poincare* to present itself to the astronomer and to the mathematician in complementary or even contradictory aspects. The astronomer requires a series which converges rapidly at the outset. He cares not what the ultimate character may be, if only the first few terms, twenty forexample, suffice to compute the desired function to the degree of accuracy required. Consequently he judges the series by these terms. If they increase, the series is for him non-convergent. To the mathematician the question is not at all concerning the nature of the series ab initio, but solely concerning its ultimate character. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works."
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1333660790/?tag=2022091-20
The son of astronomer John Monroe Van Vleck, he graduated from Wesleyan University in 1884, attended Johns Hopkins in 1885-1887, and studied at Göttingen (Doctor of Philosophy, 1893).
Bachelor of Arts, Wesleyan University, Connecticut, 1884, Master of Arts, 1887. Graduate student mathematics and physics, 1885-1887, fellow, 1886-1887, Johns Hopkins. Student mathematics, University of Göttingen, 1890-1893, Doctor of Philosophy, 1893.
Doctor of Laws, Clark University, 1909, Wesleyan University, 1925.
Doctor of Mathematics and Physics, University of Groningen, 300th Anniversary, 1914. Doctor of Science, University of Chicago, 1916.
He also received 1 July 1914 an honorary doctorate of the University of Groningen (The Netherlands). He was assistant professor and professor at Wesleyan (1895-1906), and after 1906 a professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where the mathematics building is named after him. His doctoral students include H. South. Wall.
In 1913 he became president of the American Mathematical Society, of whose Transactions he had been first associate editor (1902-1905) and then editor (1905-1910).
He was the author of Theory of Divergent Series and Algebraic Continued Fractions (1903), and of several monographs in mathematical journals. East. B. van Vleck is also important art collector, particularly in the medium of Japanese woodblock prints (principally Ukiyo-e), known as Van Vleck Collection.
He began collecting around 1909, but became a serious collector in the late 1920s, when he acquired approximately 4,000 prints that had been owned by Frank Lloyd Wright. His collection, one of the largest in the world outside the Library of Congress, features more than 2,000 prints by Utagawa Hiroshige as well as many prints by Hokusai, and fine examples of shin hanga (new prints) made well into the 20th century.
His collection now resides at the Chazen Museum of Art in Madison, Wisconsin.
(Excerpt from Selected Topics in the Theory of Divergent S...)
Member National Research Council, 1921-1924. Member National Academy Sciences, American Mathematics Society (vice president, 1909, president, 1913-1915), Deutsche Matematiker-Vereinigung, Soctete Mathematique de France, Circolo Matematico di Palermo. Member Phi Beta Kappa, National Arts.
Married Hester Laurence Raymond, July 3, 1893.