James Hardy Wilkinson, FRS (1919-1986)

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From the Royal Society archives. © Godfrey Argent Studio.

This mini website, curated by Sven Hammarling and Nick Higham, collects information about the mathematician James Hardy Wilkinson. If you have suggestions for additions, please contact us.

Biography

  • James Hardy Wilkinson at MacTutor History of Mathematics archive, by J. O’Connor and E. F. Robertson.
  • James H. Wilkinson at Wikipedia.
  • Dedication in special issue of Linear Algebra and its Applications in honour of Jim Wilkinson, by Gene Golub and Cleve Moler
  • The Contribution of J. H. Wilkinson to Numerical Analysis by Beresford Parlett (1990).
  • James Hardy (“Jim”) Wilkinson by Beresford Parlett, at ACM Turing Award site.
  • James Hardy Wilkinson at Encyclopedia.com.
  • Remembering James Hardy Wilkinson at SIAM News, by Sven Hammarling and Nicholas Higham.
  • In Memoriam. J. H. Wilkinson (1919–1986) by F. L. Bauer and A. S. Householder, Numer. Math. (1987).
  • James Hardy Wilkinson, 1919–1986 by Leslie Fox. Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society (1987).
  • James Hardy Wilkinson 27 September 1919 – 5 October 1986 by Sven Hammarling (2019).
  • Celebrating James Hardy Wilkinson by Sven Hammarling and Nicholas J. Higham, Mathematics Today (2019).
  • Obituary. Dr James Hardy Wilkinson, FRS, FIMA, IMA Bulletin, pages 76-77, March/April 1987.
  • Note in NPL News, April 1980 on the retirement of Dr J. H. Wilkinson.

Blog Posts

Publications and Notes

  • James H. Wilkinson’s Google Scholar page.
  • James Hardy Wilkinson’s bibliography – PDF document.
  • James H. Wilkinson’s bibliography – bibtex database from the BibNet Project.
  • CS237A. J. H. Wilkinson, Stanford Notes (170 pages).
  • The Algebraic Eigenvalue Problem. Background Theory by J.H. Wilkinson, Stanford Notes (149 pages).

Photos

  • Photos of James H. Wilkinson and related photos.
  • Photos of Gatlinburg VII, 1977 Conference on Numerical Linear Algebra.

In His Own Words

  • The Birth of a Computer: An Interview with James H. Wilkinson on the Building of a Computer Designed by Alan Turing, John C. Nash, Byte 10, 177-194, 1985.
  • Oral history by James H. Wilkinson at SIAM History of Numerical Analysis and Scientific Computing site.
  • This audio interview with Wilkinson is “10 J H Wilkinson” in The Pioneers of Computing, a series of interviews as part of an oral history of computing compiled by Dr Christopher Evans with the support of the Science Museum London and the National Physical Laboratory in Teddington. It was recorded in Teddington in 1976″.

Videos

  • Elementary Transformations Used in Practical Linear Algebra – James H. Wilkinson, Eigensystem Workshop, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois, USA, June 1973.
  • Algorithms for Non-Sparse Real Symmetric Matrices – James H. Wilkinson, Eigensystem Workshop, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois, USA, June 1973.
  • Inverse Iteration – James H. Wilkinson, Eigensystem Workshop, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois, USA, June 1973.
  • Detailed Study of the QR, QL Algorithms – James H. Wilkinson, Eigensystem Workshop, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois, USA, June 1973.
  • Piloting Computing – Alan Turing’s Automatic Computing Engine – the history of the ACE, with contributions from Jim Wilkinson.
  • The Pilot Ace, 1982 – Jim Wilkinson and Mike Woodger talking about Turing and Pilot ACE.

Prizes and Fellowships in His Honour

  • James H. Wilkinson Prize in Numerical Analysis and Scientific Computing – SIAM
  • James H. Wilkinson Prize for Numerical Software – SIAM
  • J. H. Wilkinson Fellowship in Scientific Computing – Argonne National Laboratory

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