How Dev was nearly lost to science
The course of Irish history might have looked very different had a job fallen right for an aspiring young mathematician. Éamon de Valera very nearly won a post as professor of mathematics in 1913, something that would have diverted him from his eventual life in politics.
Dev got close to securing the professorship of mathematical physics at University College Cork three years before the Rising. Had he won the post, the course of Irish history would have changed dramatically, says researcher Cáit Ní Shúilleabháin of UCC.
“If he had gotten that job in 1913 he would definitely have continued at the maths,” she believes.
Ní Shúilleabháin has recently completed an intriguing PhD thesis on the mathematical life of de Valera. It shows he was accomplished in the field and had a particular fascination for quaternions, a mathematical discovery made by Irish mathematician William Rowan Hamilton.
De Valera’s interest in mathematics has largely been overlooked in conventional historical treatments, according to Des MacHale, of UCC’s school of mathematical sciences, who co-supervised Ní Shúilleabháin’s research along with UCC historian Gabriel Doherty. “It’s been neglected because people couldn’t cope with the technical details,” he says.
Article taken from The Irish Times Thursday, May 13, 2010
Declan Holmes of Science Ireland performs interactive science shows in primary and secondary schools in Ireland. He has a background in experimental physics. He is a member of the Institute of Physics and the American Association of Physics Teachers.
