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| field = mathematics<br/>[[geophysics]]
| field = mathematics<br/>[[geophysics]]
| work_institutions =
| work_institutions =
| alma_mater = [[Colleges of Durham University#Colleges in Newcastle (Armstrong College and King's College)|Armstrong College]]
| alma_mater = [[Colleges of Durham University#Colleges in Newcastle (Armstrong College and King's College)|Armstrong College]] <br> [[St John's College, Cambridge]]
| doctoral_advisor =
| doctoral_advisor =
| doctoral_students = [[Herman Bondi]]<ref name="bondi">{{Cite journal | last1 = Roxburgh | first1 = I. W. | doi = 10.1098/rsbm.2007.0008 | title = Hermann Bondi 1 November 1919–10 September 2005: Elected FRS 1959 | journal = [[Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society]] | volume = 53 | pages = 45–61 | year = 2007 | s2cid = 70786803 }}</ref><br>[[Sydney Goldstein]]<br>[[V. S. Huzurbazar|Vasant Huzurbazar]]
| doctoral_students = [[Hermann Bondi]]<ref name="bondi">{{Cite journal | last1 = Roxburgh | first1 = I. W. | doi = 10.1098/rsbm.2007.0008 | title = Hermann Bondi 1 November 1919–10 September 2005: Elected FRS 1959 | journal = [[Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society]] | volume = 53 | pages = 45–61 | year = 2007 | s2cid = 70786803 }}</ref><br>[[Sydney Goldstein]]<br>[[V. S. Huzurbazar|Vasant Huzurbazar]]
| known_for = [[Jeffreys prior]]<br>[[Viscoelasticity|Jeffreys model]]<br>[[WKB approximation|WKBJ approximation]]
| known_for =
| influences =
| influences =
| influenced =
| influenced =
| prizes = [[Adams Prize]] {{small|(1926)}}<br>[[Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society]] {{small|(1937)}}<br>[[Fellow of the Royal Society]] {{small|(1925)}}<ref name="frs"/><br>[[Murchison Medal]] {{small|(1939)}}<br>[[Royal Medal]] {{small|(1948)}}<br>[[William Bowie Medal]] {{small|(1952)}}<br>[[Guy Medal]] {{small|(Gold, 1962)}}<br>[[Vetlesen Prize]] {{small|(1962)}}<br>[[Wollaston Medal]] {{small|(1964)}}
| prizes = [[Smith's Prize]] {{small|(1915)}}<br>[[Adams Prize]] {{small|(1926)}}<br>[[Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society]] {{small|(1937)}}<br>[[Fellow of the Royal Society]] {{small|(1925)}}<ref name="frs"/><br>[[Murchison Medal]] {{small|(1939)}}<br>[[Royal Medal]] {{small|(1948)}}<br>[[William Bowie Medal]] {{small|(1952)}}<br>[[Guy Medal]] {{small|(Gold, 1962)}}<br>[[Vetlesen Prize]] {{small|(1962)}}<br>[[Wollaston Medal]] {{small|(1964)}}
| footnotes =
| footnotes =
| signature =
| signature =
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}}
}}
[[Image:Sir Harold Jeffreys.jpg|thumb|right|160px|Plaque to Sir Harold Jeffreys, Newcastle University]]
[[Image:Sir Harold Jeffreys.jpg|thumb|right|160px|Plaque to Sir Harold Jeffreys, Newcastle University]]
'''Sir Harold Jeffreys''', [[Fellow of the Royal Society|FRS]]<ref name="frs">{{Cite journal | last1 = Cook|first1 = A.|author-link = Alan Cook|doi = 10.1098/rsbm.1990.0034|title = Sir Harold Jeffreys. 2 April 1891–18 March 1989|journal = [[Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society]]|volume = 36|pages = 302–326|year = 1990|doi-access = free}}</ref><ref name="frs2">{{Cite journal|doi = 10.1098/rsbm.1991.0025|title = Errata: Sir Harold Jeffreys. 2 April 1891–18 March 1989|journal = [[Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society]]|volume = 37|page = 491|year = 1991|doi-access = free}}</ref> (22 April 1891 – 18 March 1989) was a British mathematician, statistician, [[Geophysics|geophysicist]], and [[astronomer]]. His book, ''Theory of Probability'', which was first published in 1939, played an important role in the revival of the [[Bayesian probability|objective Bayesian view of probability]].<ref name = "jaynes">{{cite book |first=E. T. |last=Jaynes |title=Probability Theory: The Logic of Science |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2003 |isbn=0-521-59271-2 }}</ref><ref name="mactutor">{{MacTutor Biography|id=Jeffreys}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Robert | first1 = C.P. | last2 = Chopin | first2 = N. | last3 = Rousseau | first3 = J. | year = 2009 | title = Harold Jeffreys's Theory of Probability Revisited | journal = Statistical Science | volume = 24 | issue = 2| pages = 141–172 | doi = 10.1214/09-STS284 | doi-access = free }}</ref>
'''Sir Harold Jeffreys''', [[Fellow of the Royal Society|FRS]]<ref name="frs">{{Cite journal | last1 = Cook|first1 = A.|author-link = Alan Cook|doi = 10.1098/rsbm.1990.0034|title = Sir Harold Jeffreys. 2 April 1891–18 March 1989|journal = [[Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society]]|volume = 36|pages = 302–326|year = 1990|doi-access = | s2cid=71454940 }}</ref><ref name="frs2">{{Cite journal|doi = 10.1098/rsbm.1991.0025|title = Errata: Sir Harold Jeffreys. 2 April 1891–18 March 1989|journal = [[Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society]]|volume = 37|page = 491|year = 1991|doi-access = }}</ref> (22 April 1891 – 18 March 1989) was a British [[Geophysics|geophysicist]] who made significant contributions to mathematics and statistics. His book, ''Theory of Probability'', which was first published in 1939, played an important role in the revival of the [[Bayesian probability|objective Bayesian view of probability]].<ref name = "jaynes">{{cite book |first=E. T. |last=Jaynes |title=Probability Theory: The Logic of Science |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2003 |isbn=0-521-59271-2 }}</ref><ref name="mactutor">{{MacTutor Biography|id=Jeffreys}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Robert | first1 = C.P. | last2 = Chopin | first2 = N. | last3 = Rousseau | first3 = J. | year = 2009 | title = Harold Jeffreys's Theory of Probability Revisited | journal = Statistical Science | volume = 24 | issue = 2| pages = 141–172 | doi = 10.1214/09-STS284 | doi-access = free | arxiv = 0804.3173 }}</ref>


==Education==
==Education==
Jeffreys was born in [[Fatfield]], County Durham, England, the son of Robert Hal Jeffreys, headmaster of [[Fatfield]] Church School, and his wife, Elizabeth Mary Sharpe, a school teacher.<ref>{{cite book|title=Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002|date=July 2006|publisher=The Royal Society of Edinburgh|isbn=0-902-198-84-X|url=https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp1.pdf}}</ref> He was educated at his father's school then studied at [[Colleges of Durham University#Colleges in Newcastle (Armstrong College and King's College)|Armstrong College]] in [[Newcastle upon Tyne]], then part of the [[Durham University|University of Durham]], and with the [[University of London External Programme]].<ref name="The Papers of Harold Jeffreys">{{cite web | title = Papers and Correspondence of Sir Harold Jeffreys | url = http://janus.lib.cam.ac.uk/db/node.xsp?id=EAD%2FGBR%2F0275%2FJeffreys%2FA118-A127 | access-date = 17 September 2008}}</ref>
Jeffreys was born in [[Fatfield]], County Durham, England, the son of Robert Hal Jeffreys, headmaster of [[Fatfield]] Church School, and his wife, Elizabeth Mary Sharpe, a school teacher.<ref>{{cite book|title=Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002|date=July 2006|publisher=The Royal Society of Edinburgh|isbn=0-902-198-84-X|url=https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp1.pdf|access-date=13 January 2017|archive-date=24 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130124115814/http://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp1.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> He was educated at his father's school and at Rutherford Technical College, then studied at [[Colleges of Durham University#Colleges in Newcastle (Armstrong College and King's College)|Armstrong College]] in [[Newcastle upon Tyne]] (at that time part of the [[Durham University|University of Durham]]) and with the [[University of London External Programme]].<ref name="The Papers of Harold Jeffreys">{{cite web|title=Papers and Correspondence of Sir Harold Jeffreys|url=http://janus.lib.cam.ac.uk/db/node.xsp?id=EAD%2FGBR%2F0275%2FJeffreys%2FA118-A127|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180918091021/https://janus.lib.cam.ac.uk/db/node.xsp?id=EAD%2FGBR%2F0275%2FJeffreys%2FA118-A127|archive-date=18 September 2018|access-date=17 September 2008}}</ref><ref name="DNB">Cook, Alan [rev.], [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/40027 "Jeffreys, Sir Harold (1891–1989)"], ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004; online edition, September 2004. Retrieved 1 January 2023. {{subscription required}}</ref>

Jeffreys subsequently won a scholarship to study the Mathematical [[Tripos]] at [[St John's College, Cambridge]], where he established a reputation as an excellent student: obtaining first-class marks for his papers in Part One of the Tripos, he was a [[Wrangler (University of Cambridge)|Wrangler]] in Part Two, and in 1915 he was awarded the prestigious [[Smith's Prize]].<ref name="DNB"/>


==Career==
==Career==
{{Unsourced|section|date=January 2023}}
Jeffreys became a fellow of [[St John's College, Cambridge]] in 1914. At the [[University of Cambridge]] he taught mathematics, then [[geophysics]] and finally became the [[Plumian Professor of Astronomy]].
Jeffreys became a fellow of St John's College in 1914, retaining his fellowship until his death 75 years later. At the [[University of Cambridge]] he taught mathematics, then [[geophysics]] and finally became the [[Plumian Professor of Astronomy]].


In 1940 he married fellow mathematician and physicist, [[Bertha Swirles]] (1903–1999), and together they wrote ''Methods of Mathematical Physics''.
In 1940, he married fellow mathematician and physicist, [[Bertha Swirles]] (1903–1999), and together they wrote ''Methods of Mathematical Physics''.


One of his major contributions was on the [[Bayesian probability|Bayesian]] approach to [[probability]] (also see [[Jeffreys prior]]), as well as the idea that the Earth's [[planetary core]] was liquid.<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Bolt | first1 = B. A. | title = The Constitution of the Core: Seismological Evidence | doi = 10.1098/rsta.1982.0062 | journal = Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences | volume = 306 | issue = 1492 | pages = 11–20 | year = 1982 |bibcode = 1982RSPTA.306...11B | s2cid = 120731079 }}</ref>
One of his major contributions was on the [[Bayesian probability|Bayesian]] approach to [[probability]] (also see [[Jeffreys prior]]), as well as the idea that the Earth's [[planetary core]] was liquid.<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Bolt | first1 = B. A. | title = The Constitution of the Core: Seismological Evidence | doi = 10.1098/rsta.1982.0062 | journal = Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences | volume = 306 | issue = 1492 | pages = 11–20 | year = 1982 |bibcode = 1982RSPTA.306...11B | s2cid = 120731079 }}</ref>
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By 1924 Jeffreys had developed a general method of approximating solutions to linear, second-order differential equations, including the [[Schrödinger equation]]. Although the Schrödinger equation was developed two years later, Wentzel, Kramers, and Brillouin were apparently unaware of this earlier work, so Jeffreys is often neglected when credit is given for the [[WKB approximation]].<ref name="Andrianov_2004">{{cite book |author1=Igorʹ Vasilʹevich Andrianov |author2=Jan Awrejcewicz |author3=L. I. Manevitch |author4=Leonid Isaakovich Manevich | title = Asymptotical mechanics of thin-walled structures | publisher=Springer-Verlag | location = Berlin | date = 2004 | pages = 471 | isbn = 3-540-40876-2}}</ref>
By 1924 Jeffreys had developed a general method of approximating solutions to linear, second-order differential equations, including the [[Schrödinger equation]]. Although the Schrödinger equation was developed two years later, Wentzel, Kramers, and Brillouin were apparently unaware of this earlier work, so Jeffreys is often neglected when credit is given for the [[WKB approximation]].<ref name="Andrianov_2004">{{cite book |author1=Igorʹ Vasilʹevich Andrianov |author2=Jan Awrejcewicz |author3=L. I. Manevitch |author4=Leonid Isaakovich Manevich | title = Asymptotical mechanics of thin-walled structures | publisher=Springer-Verlag | location = Berlin | date = 2004 | pages = 471 | isbn = 3-540-40876-2}}</ref>


Jeffreys received the [[Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society]] in 1937, the [[Royal Society]]'s [[Copley Medal]] in 1960, and the [[Royal Statistical Society]]'s [[Guy Medal]] in Gold in 1962. In 1948, he received the [[Charles Lagrange Prize]] from the [[Academie royale de Belgique|Académie royale des Sciences, des Lettres et des Beaux-Arts de Belgique]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/vetlesen/recipients/1962/jeffreys_bio.html |title=Archived copy |access-date=2009-08-30 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091128020426/http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/vetlesen/recipients/1962/jeffreys_bio.html |archive-date=28 November 2009 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> He was [[Knight Bachelor|knighted]] in 1953.
Jeffreys received the [[Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society]] in 1937, the [[Royal Society]]'s [[Copley Medal]] in 1960, and the [[Royal Statistical Society]]'s [[Guy Medal]] in Gold in 1962. In 1948, he received the [[Charles Lagrange Prize]] from the [[Academie royale de Belgique|Académie royale des Sciences, des Lettres et des Beaux-Arts de Belgique]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/vetlesen/recipients/1962/jeffreys_bio.html |title=Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory - Biography of Vetlesen Prize Winner - Sir Harold Jeffreys |access-date=2009-08-30 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091128020426/http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/vetlesen/recipients/1962/jeffreys_bio.html |archive-date=28 November 2009 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> He was [[Knight Bachelor|knighted]] in 1953.


From 1939 to 1952 he was established as Director of the International Seismological Summary further known as [[International Seismological Centre]].
From 1939 to 1952 he was established as Director of the International Seismological Summary further known as [[International Seismological Centre]].
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==Opposition to continental drift and plate tectonics==
==Opposition to continental drift and plate tectonics==
Like most of his contemporaries, Jeffreys was a strong opponent of [[continental drift]] as proposed by [[Alfred Wegener]], [[Arthur Holmes]], and even into the 1960s his Cambridge contemporaries. For him, continental drift was "out of the question" because no force even remotely strong enough to move the continents across the Earth's surface was evident.<ref name=CLewis2002>{{cite book |author=Lewis, Cherry |title=The dating game: one man's search for the age of the Earth |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge, UK |date=2002 |pages=159 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d2AZZ3NXuogC |isbn=0-521-89312-7 }}</ref> As geological and geophysical evidence for continental drift and [[plate tectonics]] mounted in the 1960s and after, to the point where it became the unifying concept of modern geology, Jeffreys remained a stubborn opponent of the theory to his death.
Jeffreys, like many of his peers, staunchly opposed the concept of [[continental drift]] as put forth by [[Alfred Wegener]] and [[Arthur Holmes]]. This opposition persisted even into the 1960s among his colleagues at Cambridge. For him, continental drift was "out of the question" because no force even remotely strong enough to move the continents across the Earth's surface was evident.<ref name=CLewis2002>{{cite book |author=Lewis, Cherry |title=The dating game: one man's search for the age of the Earth |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge, UK |date=2002 |pages=159 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d2AZZ3NXuogC |isbn=0-521-89312-7 }}</ref> As geological and geophysical evidence for continental drift and [[plate tectonics]] mounted in the 1960s and after, to the point where it became the unifying concept of modern geology, Jeffreys remained a stubborn opponent of the theory to his death.


==Honours and awards==
==Honours and awards==
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==Bibliography==
==Bibliography==
* 1924: ''The Earth, Its Origin, History and Physical Constitution'', [[Cambridge University Press]]; 5th edn. 1970; 6th edn. 1976
* 1924: ''The Earth, Its Origin, History and Physical Constitution'', [[Cambridge University Press]]; 5th edn. 1970; 6th edn. 1976
* 1927: [https://archive.org/details/operationalmetho029814mbp Operational Methods in Mathematical Physics], [[Cambridge University Press]] via [[Internet Archive]], Review:<ref>{{cite journal|author=Uhler, Horace Scudder|title=Review: ''Operational methods in mathematical physics'', by H. Jeffreys|journal=Bull. Amer. Math. Soc.|date=1929|volume=35|issue=6|pages=882–883|url=http://www.ams.org/journals/bull/1929-35-06/S0002-9904-1929-04822-5/|doi=10.1090/s0002-9904-1929-04822-5|doi-access=free}}</ref>
* 1927: [https://archive.org/details/operationalmetho029814mbp Operational Methods in Mathematical Physics], [[Cambridge University Press]] via [[Internet Archive]], Review:<ref>{{cite journal|author=Uhler, Horace Scudder|title=Review: ''Operational methods in mathematical physics'', by H. Jeffreys|journal=Bull. Amer. Math. Soc.|date=1929|volume=35|issue=6|pages=882–883|url=https://www.ams.org/journals/bull/1929-35-06/S0002-9904-1929-04822-5/|doi=10.1090/s0002-9904-1929-04822-5|doi-access=free}}</ref>
* 1929: ''The Future of the Earth'', [[Norton & Company]]
* 1929: ''The Future of the Earth'', [[Norton & Company]]
* 1931: ''Scientific Inference'', [[Macmillan Publishers]]; 2nd edn. 1937;<ref>{{cite journal|author=Struik, D. J.|author-link=Dirk Jan Struik|title=Review: ''Scientific inference'' by H. Jeffreys|journal=Bull. Amer. Math. Soc.|date=1939|volume=45|issue=3|pages=213–215|doi=10.1090/s0002-9904-1939-06947-4|doi-access=free}}</ref> 3rd edn. 1973
* 1931: ''Scientific Inference'', [[Macmillan Publishers]]; 2nd edn. 1937;<ref>{{cite journal|author=Struik, D. J.|author-link=Dirk Jan Struik|title=Review: ''Scientific inference'' by H. Jeffreys|journal=Bull. Amer. Math. Soc.|date=1939|volume=45|issue=3|pages=213–215|doi=10.1090/s0002-9904-1939-06947-4|doi-access=free}}</ref> 3rd edn. 1973<ref name="Jeffreys Inference 1973 ">{{cite book | last=Jeffreys | first=Harold | title=Scientific Inference | publisher=Cambridge University Press | publication-place=Cambridge | date=1973-12-13 | isbn=0-521-08446-6 | edition=3rd }}</ref>
* 1931: ''Cartesian Tensors''. Cambridge University Press;<ref>{{cite journal|author=Taylor, J. H.|author-link=James Henry Taylor|title=Review: ''Cartesian tensors'', by H. Jeffreys|journal=Bull. Amer. Math. Soc.|date=1933|volume=39|issue=9|page=661|doi=10.1090/s0002-9904-1933-05715-4|doi-access=free}}</ref> 2nd edn. 1961
* 1931: ''Cartesian Tensors''. Cambridge University Press;<ref>{{cite journal|author=Taylor, J. H.|author-link=James Henry Taylor|title=Review: ''Cartesian tensors'', by H. Jeffreys|journal=Bull. Amer. Math. Soc.|date=1933|volume=39|issue=9|page=661|doi=10.1090/s0002-9904-1933-05715-4|doi-access=free}}</ref> 2nd edn. 1961
* 1934: ''Ocean Waves and Kindred Geophysical Phenomena'', with [[Vaughan Cornish]], Cambridge University Press
* 1934: ''Ocean Waves and Kindred Geophysical Phenomena'', with [[Vaughan Cornish]], Cambridge University Press
* 1935: ''Earthquakes and Mountains'', [[Methuen Publishing]]; 2nd edn. 1950
* 1935: ''Earthquakes and Mountains'', [[Methuen Publishing]]; 2nd edn. 1950
* 1939: ''Theory of Probability'',<ref>{{cite journal|author=Dodd, Edward L.|title=Review: ''Theory of probability'', by H. Jeffreys|journal=Bull. Amer. Math. Soc.|date=1940|volume=46|issue=9, Part 1|pages=739–741|url=http://www.ams.org/journals/bull/1940-46-09/S0002-9904-1940-07280-5/|doi=10.1090/s0002-9904-1940-07280-5|doi-access=free}}</ref> [[Clarendon Press]], Oxford; 2nd edn. 1948; 3rd edn. 1961
* 1939: ''Theory of Probability'',<ref>{{cite journal|author=Dodd, Edward L.|title=Review: ''Theory of probability'', by H. Jeffreys|journal=Bull. Amer. Math. Soc.|date=1940|volume=46|issue=9, Part 1|pages=739–741|url=https://www.ams.org/journals/bull/1940-46-09/S0002-9904-1940-07280-5/|doi=10.1090/s0002-9904-1940-07280-5|doi-access=free}}</ref> [[Clarendon Press]], Oxford; 2nd edn. 1948; 3rd edn. 1961
* 1946: ''Methods of Mathematical Physics'', with Bertha S. Jeffreys. Cambridge University Press;<ref>{{cite journal|author=Synge, J. L.|author-link=John Lighton Synge|title=Review: ''Methods of mathematical physics'', by H. Jeffreys and B. S. Jeffreys|journal=Bull. Amer. Math. Soc.|date=1948|volume=54|issue=3|pages=300–303|url=http://www.ams.org/journals/bull/1948-54-03/S0002-9904-1948-08974-1/|doi=10.1090/s0002-9904-1948-08974-1|doi-access=free}}</ref> 2nd edn. 1950; 3rd edn. 1956; corrected 3rd edn. 1966
* 1946: ''Methods of Mathematical Physics'', with Bertha S. Jeffreys. Cambridge University Press;<ref>{{cite journal|author=Synge, J. L.|author-link=John Lighton Synge|title=Review: ''Methods of mathematical physics'', by H. Jeffreys and B. S. Jeffreys|journal=Bull. Amer. Math. Soc.|date=1948|volume=54|issue=3|pages=300–303|url=https://www.ams.org/journals/bull/1948-54-03/S0002-9904-1948-08974-1/|doi=10.1090/s0002-9904-1948-08974-1|doi-access=free}}</ref> 2nd edn. 1950; 3rd edn. 1956; corrected 3rd edn. 1966
* 1962: ''Asymptotic Approximations'', [[Clarendon Press]], Oxford
* 1962: ''Asymptotic Approximations'', [[Clarendon Press]], Oxford
* 1963: ''Nutation and Forced Motion of the Earth's Pole from the Data of Latitude Observations'', Macmillan
* 1963: ''Nutation and Forced Motion of the Earth's Pole from the Data of Latitude Observations'', Macmillan
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==References==
==References==
{{reflist|30em}}
{{reflist}}


==Further reading==
==Further reading==
* {{cite journal |first=Maria Carla |last=Galavotti |title=Harold Jeffreys' Probabilistic Epistemology: Between Logicism And Subjectivism |journal=[[British Journal for the Philosophy of Science]] |volume=54 |issue=1 |pages=43–57 |year=2003 |doi=10.1093/bjps/54.1.43 }} (A review of Jeffreys' approach to probability; includes remarks on [[R.A. Fisher]], [[Frank P. Ramsey]], and [[Bruno de Finetti]].
* {{cite journal |first=Maria Carla |last=Galavotti |author-link= Maria Carla Galavotti |title=Harold Jeffreys' Probabilistic Epistemology: Between Logicism And Subjectivism |journal=[[British Journal for the Philosophy of Science]] |volume=54 |issue=1 |pages=43–57 |year=2003 |doi=10.1093/bjps/54.1.43 }} (A review of Jeffreys' approach to probability; includes remarks on [[R.A. Fisher]], [[Frank P. Ramsey]], and [[Bruno de Finetti]].
* {{cite book |first=David |last=Howie |title=Interpreting Probability: Controversies and Developments in the Early Twentieth Century |location=New York |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2002 |isbn=0-521-81251-8 }}
* {{cite book |first=David |last=Howie |title=Interpreting Probability: Controversies and Developments in the Early Twentieth Century |location=New York |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2002 |isbn=0-521-81251-8 }}
* {{cite journal |first=Bertha |last=Swirles |title=Reminiscences and Discoveries: Harold Jeffreys from 1891 to 1940 |journal=[[Notes and Records|Notes Rec. R. Soc. Lond.]] |volume=46 |issue=2 |pages=301–308 |year=1992 |jstor=531640 |doi=10.1098/rsnr.1992.0028|s2cid=144873990 }}
* {{cite journal |first=Bertha |last=Swirles |title=Reminiscences and Discoveries: Harold Jeffreys from 1891 to 1940 |journal=[[Notes and Records|Notes Rec. R. Soc. Lond.]] |volume=46 |issue=2 |pages=301–308 |year=1992 |jstor=531640 |doi=10.1098/rsnr.1992.0028|s2cid=144873990 }}
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* [http://photos.aip.org/veritySearch1.jsp?page=1&chapter=0&collection=storeTest&name=Jeffreys%2C+Harold%2C+Sir&desc1=&search=SEARCH+%A0%A0 Photographs of Harold Jeffreys at Emilio Segrè Visual Archives, American Institute of Physics].
* [http://photos.aip.org/veritySearch1.jsp?page=1&chapter=0&collection=storeTest&name=Jeffreys%2C+Harold%2C+Sir&desc1=&search=SEARCH+%A0%A0 Photographs of Harold Jeffreys at Emilio Segrè Visual Archives, American Institute of Physics].
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20091128020426/http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/vetlesen/recipients/1962/jeffreys_bio.html Biography of Vetlesen Prize Winner – Sir Harold Jeffreys]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20091128020426/http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/vetlesen/recipients/1962/jeffreys_bio.html Biography of Vetlesen Prize Winner – Sir Harold Jeffreys]
* [http://www.economics.soton.ac.uk/staff/aldrich/jeffreysweb.htm Harold Jeffreys as a Statistician]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20220516053519/http://www.economics.soton.ac.uk/staff/aldrich/jeffreysweb.htm Harold Jeffreys as a Statistician]


{{Copley Medallists 1951–2000}}
{{Copley Medallists 1951–2000}}
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[[Category:1891 births]]
[[Category:1891 births]]
[[Category:1989 deaths]]
[[Category:1989 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century mathematicians]]
[[Category:Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Alumni of University of London Worldwide]]
[[Category:Alumni of University of London Worldwide]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of London]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of London]]
[[Category:Bayesian statisticians]]
[[Category:Bayesian statisticians]]
[[Category:English astronomers]]
[[Category:20th-century British astronomers]]
[[Category:English mathematicians]]
[[Category:20th-century English mathematicians]]
[[Category:English statisticians]]
[[Category:English statisticians]]
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Revision as of 00:18, 13 July 2024

Sir Harold Jeffreys
Black and white portrait photograph of Sir Harold Jeffreys looking into the camera. He is wearing a shirt, tie and jacket. He has a moustache and is wearing spectacles.
Born(1891-04-22)22 April 1891
Fatfield, County Durham, England
Died18 March 1989(1989-03-18) (aged 97)
Cambridge, England
Alma materArmstrong College
St John's College, Cambridge
Known forJeffreys prior
Jeffreys model
WKBJ approximation
SpouseBertha Swirles
AwardsSmith's Prize (1915)
Adams Prize (1926)
Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society (1937)
Fellow of the Royal Society (1925)[1]
Murchison Medal (1939)
Royal Medal (1948)
William Bowie Medal (1952)
Guy Medal (Gold, 1962)
Vetlesen Prize (1962)
Wollaston Medal (1964)
Scientific career
Fieldsmathematics
geophysics
Doctoral studentsHermann Bondi[2]
Sydney Goldstein
Vasant Huzurbazar
Plaque to Sir Harold Jeffreys, Newcastle University

Sir Harold Jeffreys, FRS[1][3] (22 April 1891 – 18 March 1989) was a British geophysicist who made significant contributions to mathematics and statistics. His book, Theory of Probability, which was first published in 1939, played an important role in the revival of the objective Bayesian view of probability.[4][5][6]

Bildung

Jeffreys was born in Fatfield, County Durham, England, the son of Robert Hal Jeffreys, headmaster of Fatfield Church School, and his wife, Elizabeth Mary Sharpe, a school teacher.[7] He was educated at his father's school and at Rutherford Technical College, then studied at Armstrong College in Newcastle upon Tyne (at that time part of the University of Durham) and with the University of London External Programme.[8][9]

Jeffreys subsequently won a scholarship to study the Mathematical Tripos at St John's College, Cambridge, where he established a reputation as an excellent student: obtaining first-class marks for his papers in Part One of the Tripos, he was a Wrangler in Part Two, and in 1915 he was awarded the prestigious Smith's Prize.[9]

Career

Jeffreys became a fellow of St John's College in 1914, retaining his fellowship until his death 75 years later. At the University of Cambridge he taught mathematics, then geophysics and finally became the Plumian Professor of Astronomy.

In 1940, he married fellow mathematician and physicist, Bertha Swirles (1903–1999), and together they wrote Methods of Mathematical Physics.

One of his major contributions was on the Bayesian approach to probability (also see Jeffreys prior), as well as the idea that the Earth's planetary core was liquid.[10]

By 1924 Jeffreys had developed a general method of approximating solutions to linear, second-order differential equations, including the Schrödinger equation. Although the Schrödinger equation was developed two years later, Wentzel, Kramers, and Brillouin were apparently unaware of this earlier work, so Jeffreys is often neglected when credit is given for the WKB approximation.[11]

Jeffreys received the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1937, the Royal Society's Copley Medal in 1960, and the Royal Statistical Society's Guy Medal in Gold in 1962. In 1948, he received the Charles Lagrange Prize from the Académie royale des Sciences, des Lettres et des Beaux-Arts de Belgique.[12] He was knighted in 1953.

From 1939 to 1952 he was established as Director of the International Seismological Summary further known as International Seismological Centre.

The textbook Probability Theory: The Logic of Science, written by the physicist and probability theorist Edwin T. Jaynes, is dedicated to Jeffreys. The dedication reads, "Dedicated to the memory of Sir Harold Jeffreys, who saw the truth and preserved it."

It is only through an appendix to the third edition of Jeffreys' book Scientific Inference that we know about Mary Cartwright's method of proving that the number π is irrational.

Opposition to continental drift and plate tectonics

Jeffreys, like many of his peers, staunchly opposed the concept of continental drift as put forth by Alfred Wegener and Arthur Holmes. This opposition persisted even into the 1960s among his colleagues at Cambridge. For him, continental drift was "out of the question" because no force even remotely strong enough to move the continents across the Earth's surface was evident.[13] As geological and geophysical evidence for continental drift and plate tectonics mounted in the 1960s and after, to the point where it became the unifying concept of modern geology, Jeffreys remained a stubborn opponent of the theory to his death.

Honours and awards

  • Fellow, Royal Society, 1925[1]
  • Adams Prize, 1927 (Constitution of the Earth)
  • Gold Medal, Royal Astronomical Society, 1937
  • Buchan Prize, Royal Meteorological Society, 1929
  • Murchison Medal of Geological Society (Great Britain) 1939
  • Victoria Medal, Royal Geographical Society, 1941
  • Charles Lagrange Prize, Brussels Academy, 1948
  • Royal Medal, 1948
  • William Bowie Medal, American Geophysical Union, 1952
  • Knighted, 1953
  • Copley Medal, Royal Society, 1961
  • Vetlesen Prize, 1962

Bibliography

References

  1. ^ a b c Cook, A. (1990). "Sir Harold Jeffreys. 2 April 1891–18 March 1989". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 36: 302–326. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1990.0034. S2CID 71454940.
  2. ^ Roxburgh, I. W. (2007). "Hermann Bondi 1 November 1919–10 September 2005: Elected FRS 1959". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 53: 45–61. doi:10.1098/rsbm.2007.0008. S2CID 70786803.
  3. ^ "Errata: Sir Harold Jeffreys. 2 April 1891–18 March 1989". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 37: 491. 1991. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1991.0025.
  4. ^ Jaynes, E. T. (2003). Probability Theory: The Logic of Science. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-59271-2.
  5. ^ O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "Harold Jeffreys", MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive, University of St Andrews
  6. ^ Robert, C.P.; Chopin, N.; Rousseau, J. (2009). "Harold Jeffreys's Theory of Probability Revisited". Statistical Science. 24 (2): 141–172. arXiv:0804.3173. doi:10.1214/09-STS284.
  7. ^ Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002 (PDF). The Royal Society of Edinburgh. July 2006. ISBN 0-902-198-84-X. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
  8. ^ "Papers and Correspondence of Sir Harold Jeffreys". Archived from the original on 18 September 2018. Retrieved 17 September 2008.
  9. ^ a b Cook, Alan [rev.], "Jeffreys, Sir Harold (1891–1989)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edition, September 2004. Retrieved 1 January 2023. (subscription required)
  10. ^ Bolt, B. A. (1982). "The Constitution of the Core: Seismological Evidence". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences. 306 (1492): 11–20. Bibcode:1982RSPTA.306...11B. doi:10.1098/rsta.1982.0062. S2CID 120731079.
  11. ^ Igorʹ Vasilʹevich Andrianov; Jan Awrejcewicz; L. I. Manevitch; Leonid Isaakovich Manevich (2004). Asymptotical mechanics of thin-walled structures. Berlin: Springer-Verlag. p. 471. ISBN 3-540-40876-2.
  12. ^ "Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory - Biography of Vetlesen Prize Winner - Sir Harold Jeffreys". Archived from the original on 28 November 2009. Retrieved 30 August 2009.
  13. ^ Lewis, Cherry (2002). The dating game: one man's search for the age of the Earth. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. p. 159. ISBN 0-521-89312-7.
  14. ^ Uhler, Horace Scudder (1929). "Review: Operational methods in mathematical physics, by H. Jeffreys". Bull. Amer. Math. Soc. 35 (6): 882–883. doi:10.1090/s0002-9904-1929-04822-5.
  15. ^ Struik, D. J. (1939). "Review: Scientific inference by H. Jeffreys". Bull. Amer. Math. Soc. 45 (3): 213–215. doi:10.1090/s0002-9904-1939-06947-4.
  16. ^ Jeffreys, Harold (13 December 1973). Scientific Inference (3rd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-08446-6.
  17. ^ Taylor, J. H. (1933). "Review: Cartesian tensors, by H. Jeffreys". Bull. Amer. Math. Soc. 39 (9): 661. doi:10.1090/s0002-9904-1933-05715-4.
  18. ^ Dodd, Edward L. (1940). "Review: Theory of probability, by H. Jeffreys". Bull. Amer. Math. Soc. 46 (9, Part 1): 739–741. doi:10.1090/s0002-9904-1940-07280-5.
  19. ^ Synge, J. L. (1948). "Review: Methods of mathematical physics, by H. Jeffreys and B. S. Jeffreys". Bull. Amer. Math. Soc. 54 (3): 300–303. doi:10.1090/s0002-9904-1948-08974-1.

Further reading

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