SYLVESTER, JAMES JOSEPH

SYLVESTER, JAMES JOSEPH (1814–1897), British mathematician. Sylvester was "second wrangler" at Cambridge in 1837, but as a Jew, he was unwilling to subscribe to the Thirty-nine Articles and thus could not obtain a degree or fellowship. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1839. Sylvester held a chair at the University of Virginia, U.S. (1841), but his outspoken sympathy for the slaves made it impossible for him to remain in Virginia. He accepted a chair at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, England (1855–70), then at John Hopkins (Baltimore, U.S. 1877–83), and at Oxford (1883). Sylvester and his colleague Arthur Cayley were considered the two leaders of pure mathematics in England during the 19th century. Sylvester dominated the development of the theories of algebraic and differential invariants, and many of the technical terms now in use were coined by him. He was well versed in many languages. He founded, edited, and contributed to the American Journal of Mathematics. The Sylvester Medal established by the Royal Society commemorates his valuable services to the advancement of science. His collected mathematical papers were published in four volumes in New York during the years 1904–12. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: DNB; Proceedings of the Royal Society, London, 63 (1898), ix–xxv. (Barry Spain)