death_date religion birth_place citizenship nationality notable_students field work_institutions birth_date known_for doctoral_students prizes image article_title academic_advisors name alma_mater
24 march 1956 roman catholic southport , lancashire united kingdom english w. v. d. hodge marion cameron gray mathematics university of edinburgh university of cambridge 24 october 1873 whittaker and watson whittaker function alexander walker g. n. watson aitken g. h. hardy r. s. vaidyanathaswamy arthur smith 1931 -rrb- de morgan medal -lrb- 1935 -rrb- copley medal 's -lrb- 1954 -rrb- frs prize -lrb- 1897 -rrb- sylvester medal -lrb- edmund taylor whittaker.jpg e. t. whittaker
 andrew russell forsyth george howard darwin edmund taylor whittaker trinity college , cambridge
e. t. whittaker

edmund taylor whittaker frs frse -lrb- 24 october 1873 -- 24 march 1956 -rrb- was an english mathematician who contributed widely to applied mathematics , mathematical physics and the theory of special functions .
he had a particular interest in numerical analysis , but also worked on celestial mechanics and the history of physics .
near the end of his career he received the copley medal , the most prestigious honorary award in british science .
the school of mathematics of the university of edinburgh holds the whittaker colloquium , a yearly lecture in his honour .
