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  George Boole
       
           1815-11-02 - 1864-12-08.  An English mathematician
          best known for his contribution to symbolic logic ({Boolean
          Algebra) but also active in other fields such as probability
          theory, algebra, analysis, and differential equations.  He
          lived, taught, and is buried in Cork City, Ireland.  The Boole
          library at University College Cork is named after him.
       
          For centuries philosophers have studied logic, which is
          orderly and precise reasoning.  George Boole argued in 1847
          that logic should be allied with mathematics rather than with
          philosophy.
       
          Demonstrating logical principles with mathematical symbols
          instead of words, he founded symbolic logic, a field of
          mathematical/philosophical study.  In the new discipline he
          developed, known as Boolean algebra, all objects are divided
          into separate classes, each with a given property; each class
          may be described in terms of the presence or absence of the
          same property.  An electrical circuit, for example, is either
          on or off.  Boolean algebra has been applied in the design of
          binary computer circuits and telephone switching equipment.
          These devices make use of Boole's two-valued (presence or
          absence of a property) system.
       
          Born in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, UK, George Boole was the son of
          a tradesman and was largely self-taught.  He began teaching at
          the age of 16 to help support his family.  In his spare time
          he read mathematical journals and soon began to write articles
          for them.  By the age of 29, Boole had received a gold medal
          for his work from the British Royal Society.  His
          'Mathematical Analysis of Logic', a pamphlet published in
          1847, contained his first statement of the principles of
          symbolic logic.  Two years later he was appointed professor of
          mathematics at Queen's College in Ireland, even though he had
          never studied at a university.
       
          He died in Ballintemple, Ireland, on 1864-12-08.
       
          Compton's Encyclopedia Online
          http://comptons2.aol.com/encyclopedia/ARTICLES/00619_A.html)" rel="nofollow">(http://comptons2.aol.com/encyclopedia/ARTICLES/00619_A.html).
       
          (1998-11-19)
       
       

  George Boole
       n : English mathematician; creator of Boolean algebra
           (1815-1864) [syn: Boole]