William Edward Hodgson Berwick

Background

William Edward Hodgson Berwick was born on March 11, 1888, in Dudley Hill, Bradford, England, the son of William Edward Berwick, a wool merchant, and Mary Hodgson. William had had an older sister Mary (born about 1884).

Education

William Berwick was educated at a small private school before entering Bradford Grammar School where he soon showed his mathematical potential. He completed his schooling in 1906 and was awarded a Brown Scholarship from the Grammar School to assist in supporting him during his university studies. He was also awarded an entrance scholarship by Clare College, Cambridge, and he studied there for the Mathematical Tripos.

In 1909 he took Part I of the Tripos and was placed as joint fourth Wrangler. This means that he was placed fourth in the ranked list of those who were awarded a First Class degree.

It was during his undergraduate years at Cambridge that Berwick became interested in number theory, and in this, he was particularly influenced by G. B. Mathews who lectured at Cambridge. Berwick sat Part II of the Mathematical Tripos in 1910, then submitted an essay entitled An illustration of the theory of relative corpora for the Smith's Prize in the following year. He was awarded the Smith's Prize and, also in 1911, his first paper was published. This paper, On the reduction of arithmetical binary cubics which have a negative determinant, was written jointly with Mathews and it was, in fact, the only paper Berwick jointly authored throughout his career.

In 1925, William Berwick received another recognition of his mathematical distinction when he was awarded the Doctor of Science degree by the University of Cambridge.

Career

By the time that Berwick's first paper was published he had left Cambridge to take up an assistant lectureship at the University of Bristol. He held this post until 1913 when he moved to a lectureship at University College of Bangor.

World War I broke out in 1914 and lasted four years. For two of these four years, Berwick undertook valuable war service on the Technical Staff of the Anti-Aircraft Experimental Section of the Munitions Inventions Department at Portsmouth. During session 1919 - 1920 the head of the mathematics department at Bangor was absent and Berwick was acting Head of Department. Following this he moved to the University of Leeds as a lecturer but, in 1921, he was promoted to Reader in Mathematical Analysis there.

The Chair of Mathematics at Bangor fell vacant and in 1926 William Berwick was appointed to the post. Berwick wrote only 13 research papers, a monograph, and a number of other articles on mathematical recreations and puzzles. Ill health prevented him from undertaking more extensive work and in fact, he only published five papers after his appointment to Bangor.

Berwick retired from the post in 1941, at which point he was created Emeritus Professor. William Edward Hodgson Berwick died on May 13, 1944, in Bangor, Gwynedd, Wales.

Achievements

• William Edward Hodgson Berwick was a prominent mathematician, specializing in algebra, who worked on the problem of computing an integral basis for the algebraic integers in a simple algebraic extension of the rationals.
  
  William Berwick endowed funds for two prizes to the London Mathematical Society; after his death, they were used to create the Senior Berwick prize and Junior Berwick prize, both of which are still awarded.

Works

• book

  • Integral Bases 1927

Membership

• 

  William Berwick was a staunch supporter of the London Mathematical Society and served on the Council from 1925 to 1929, being Vice-President of the Society in 1929.

  London Mathematical Society , United Kingdom

  1925

Personality

His main hobby was chess and William Berwick enjoyed playing in the chess clubs of the various universities in which he worked.

Physical Characteristics: William Berwick was described as a tall man with a distinctive voice and forthright personal style.

Interests

• chess

Connections

In 1923, William Berwick married Daisy May Thomas, the daughter of Doctor W. R. Thomas.

Father:

William Edward Berwick

Mother:

Mary Hodgson

Sister:

Mary Berwick

Wife:

Daisy May Berwick (Thomas)