Oliver Heaviside, an unremembered man

A mathematical thinker whose work long failed to secure the recognition its brilliance deserved … -J Z Buchwald

Many work hard for their passionate field, but few are able to perceive it. Few of them are honored, and most of them are forgotten and their works are refuted. Oliver Heaviside, a scientist, is also among those on the list of the forgotten. His contributions to modern engineering are top-notch, but many of his methods have been forgotten by the world.

Early life:

There was a scientist named “Oliver Heaviside” born in London on May 18, 1850. He caught scarlet fever when he was a young child, and this affected his hearing. He had a meagre education and led a life of poverty that deformed his future. But his poverty and very low financial situation do not prevent him from pursuing his passion for science. One of his family members, Sir Charles Wheatstone (1802–1875), after whom the piece of electrical apparatus known as the Wheatstone bridge is named, encouraged him to study electricity (which he had long wanted to do) and helped him secure a job as a telegraph operator. During his leisure hour, he studied language, mathematics, electricity, and magnetism. He led a hermit-like existence, often in desperate financial straits.

Major contribution to the modern engineering:

1. The physicist who predicted the existence of the ionosphere
2. The mathematical condition for a distortion-less telephone line and the addition of inductive loading coils to telephone lines
3. The use of operational calculus to tackle physical problems involving discontinuities
4. The modern formulation of Maxwell’s field of equations
5. The existence of a conducting layer in the atmosphere aids in the transmission of radio waves. It was also predicted by Arthur E. Kennelly. Thus, the layer was named the Kennelly-Heaviside layer.
6. “Impedance,” a common terminology used in electrical engineering, was Heaviside’s term.

Though his contributions were sublime, none of them were highly recognized. Physicists today write Maxwell’s equation without even knowing that the equation was formulated by Oliver Heaviside.

The refuted man:

It is impossible for every man to live without a nemesis. Even an ordinary guy has a rival. When a commoner has one, why not this great scientist? Sir William Preece, the head of the post office telegraph engineer, was unable to comprehend Oliver’s method of adding inductance to telephone lines. and become one of Oliver’s adversaries. Few considered his methods mathematical blasphemy, but he had the precise answers to all the problems.

Oliver Heaviside considered inductive loading to be the greatest of his ideas. However, his paper, “Philosophical Magazine,” was ignored, blocked, and some thought it was pointless to publish. but not every time. A physicist called Oliver Lodge went through his Philosophical Magazine, and remarked on his insights in the following way:

What a singular insight into the intricacies of the subject, and what a masterly grasp of a most difficult theory, are to be found among the eccentric, and in some respects repellant, writings of Mr. Oliver Heaviside.

-Physicist Oliver Lodge.

His contributions were rewarded:

“There is a time coming when all things shall be found out”

-Oliver Heaviside

Heaviside was never interested in fame. He doesn’t even gain money from his inventions and has very little money. Even though he is not interested in receiving honors, he is happy to be placed as a “Fellow of the Royal Society” (FRS) in 1891. Also, he rejected other charitable gifts from FRS.

In 1908, he was elected an honorary member of the Institution of Electrical Engineers.

Honorary membership in the American Institute of Electrical Engineers in 1918.

In 1921, he was the “first person” to be honoured with the “Faraday Medal” from the IEE.

What do we learn from him?

However absurd it may seem; I do in all seriousness hereby declare that I’m animated mainly by Philanthropic motives. I desire to do good to my fellow creature, even to the Cui Bonos

-Oliver Heaviside

1. Oliver Heaviside was a physicist whose concepts and ideas were strongly denied. though he desired to help his fellow creatures.
2. He led his life in poverty and in desperate financial straits, but he never stopped his passion for scientific work.

Oliver Heaviside’s motto of life,

“First get on, in any way possible, and let the logic be left for later work.”

Whatever the situation may be, whoever the adversary may be, live according to your passion and do good deeds that will enhance your life and the lives of those around you. It may not help you today, but one day your individuality will shine among everyone.

References:

1. Paths of Innovators, by R. Parthasarathy
2. https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Heaviside/
3. Oliver Heaviside: A first-rate oddity