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James AlexanderAmerican mathematician and topologist
Date of Birth: 19.09.1888
Country:  USA |
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American mathematician and topologist
James Waddell Alexander II was an American mathematician and topologist who was one of the pioneers of algebraic topology and one of the founders of knot theory. He introduced the concept of cohomology, independently of the renowned Soviet mathematician Andrey Nikolayevich Kolmogorov. Alexander's name is associated with the "horned sphere," one of the wild spheres. Interestingly, he was also an avid mountaineer, and a mountain crevasse in the Rocky Mountains was named in his honor.
Biography
James Waddell Alexander II was born on September 19, 1888, in Sea Bright, New Jersey. He came from a respected family and was the only child of American portraitist John White Alexander and his wife Elizabeth Alexander. Interestingly, his parents met partly because they had the same last name. His maternal grandfather, James Waddell Alexander, was the president of the "Equitable Life Assurance Society," which still exists today with billions in assets.
Growing up in wealth and privilege, Alexander's upbringing shaped his social circles, both in America and abroad. In 1917, he married Natalia Levitzkaja, who had Russian origins. Natalia shared his passion for mountaineering, and until 1937, they frequently embarked on climbs and hiking trips in the hills around Chamonix, France. Alexander was renowned for his climbing skills and conquered the Swiss Alps and the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. In Princeton, he often scaled the walls of university buildings, drawing attention to himself, and left the window of his office on the top floor of Fine Hall, where the mathematics department is located, open to make a dramatic entrance to work.
As a mathematician, Alexander was a pioneer in algebraic topology, inspired by the topological ideas of French mathematician Henri Poincaré. He was awarded the Bocher Memorial Prize in 1928 for his work on cohomology theory and the definition of cochains. In the last fifteen years of his life, Alexander became a recluse and rarely appeared in public after 1954. He signed a letter in support of J. Robert Oppenheimer, who was under scrutiny by the government due to his left-leaning views. Alexander himself was a staunch socialist and attracted the attention of McCarthyists during the infamous "witch hunt" that affected all aspects of life in the post-war United States.
James Waddell Alexander II lived to a ripe old age and passed away on September 23, 1971, in Princeton, just after celebrating his 83rd birthday.
