Oliver Heaviside

Oliver Heaviside FRS was an English self-taught mathematician and physicist who invented a new technique for solving differential equations, independently developed vector calculus, and rewrote Maxwell's equations in the form commonly used today. He significantly shaped the way Maxwell's equations are understood and applied in the decades following Maxwell's death. His formulation of the telegrapher's equations became commercially important during his own lifetime, after their significance went unremarked for a long while, as few others were versed at the time in his novel methodology. Although at odds with the scientific establishment for most of his life, Heaviside changed the face of telecommunications, mathematics, and science.

18 May 1850

Born on the same birth day (18 May): Alina Zagitova • Anthony Epstein • Boris Christoff • Chow Yun-fat • Frank Capra • Frank Hsieh • Fred Saberhagen • Gail Strickland • George Strait • Gino Brito • Graham Dilley • James Budd • Jem (singer) • Jens Bergensten • Jim Sundberg • Julián Speroni • Meredith Willson • Michael Sandle • Miriam Margolyes • Polina Edmunds • Yuya Osako

Born in the same month (May 1850): Edward Weston (chemist) • Frederick Holder • Giuseppe Mercalli • Henry Cabot Lodge • Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn • Ross Barnes