George Boole's Lincoln 1815 -49

George Boole's Lincoln 1815-49

This edited collection of recent research, produced by The Survey of Lincoln, looks at buildings, places and institutions in and around Lincoln which had associations with the famous mathematician George Boole. George Boole was born in Lincoln's city centre and grew up there, leaving for a teaching post in Doncaster before returning to Lincoln and nearby Waddington.

He was appointed Professor at the University of Cork, Ireland where he propounded his mathematical logic (now referred to as 'Boolean Logic' which underpins the working of internet search engines.

During his time in Lincoln he became well-respected. Slightly over two centuries later the city is again commemorating him.

GEORGE BOOLE’S LINCOLN, 1815-49

This edited collection investigates one notable nineteenth-century Lincoln inhabitant, George Boole, often described today as the ‘grandfather of the digital age’. He was much associated with the city from his birth in 1815 until his move to become the first Professor in Mathematics at Queen’s College, Cork in 1849.

George Boole’s life in Lincoln, working mainly as a schoolteacher, coincided with significant developments in the city, including the coming of the railway. The book looks at some of the key sites in the city with which Boole was associated. It identifies his birthplace in Silver Street, examines the buildings in which he worked as a schoolteacher and explores some of the buildings and structures that contained a range of organisations with which he was particularly connected, including the Mechanics’ Institute, located in Greyfriars. The changing townscape in which Boole was living is investigated and the importance of Lincoln as a centre of scientific experimentation and educational endeavour during Boole’s time in the city is emphasised.

The volume also focuses upon how George Boole has been remembered in the city since his death. This ranges from the cathedral window designed in his honour, archival deposits such as the Rollett Collection, to plaques, the Boole Technology Centre, a residential street and significant public works of art.

Chapters:

ANDREW WALKER Introduction

SUSAN PAYNE Key dates in George Boole’s life with particular reference to Lincoln

MALCOLM SMITH The significance of George Boole’s work

BERYL GEORGE 34 Silver Street: George Boole’s birthplace

ROB WHEELER Robert Hall’s Academy at Waddington

ROB WHEELER George Boole’s school and the move to Pottergate

LESLEY CLARKE George Boole and the Lincoln Mechanics’ Institute

ANDREW WALKER Accommodating a thirst for knowledge in George Boole’s Lincoln

ANDREW J.H. JACKSON The provincial press and local and regional life during the first half of the nineteenth century

RICHARD SKIPWORTH George Boole and the Chartist

GEOFF TANN Lincoln Saving Bank and Lincoln Benefit Building Society

DAVE WATT A modern street map of Lincoln showing places associated with George Boole, with the sites of memorials erected in his honour

ADAM CARTWRIGHT The arrival of the railways

BERYL GEORGE The building of the first Lincoln Corn Exchange

BERYL GEORGE Lincoln’s changing centre, 1815-49

MICHAEL J. JONES Antiquaries and archaeologists in early-Victorian Lincoln

NIGEL HORNER AND ROB GOEMANS The Lincoln Asylum – innovations in treatment

GEOFF TANN Lincoln contemporaries’ appreciation of George Boole

ANDREW WALKER The Boole Window, Lincoln Cathedral

SUSAN PAYNE The centenary of George Boole’s death and the plaque at Pottergate, 1964

DAVE KENYON George Boole: A personal journey to the High Street plaque

ANDREW WALKER Recent memorials to George Boole in Lincoln

SUSAN PAYNE The George Boole (Rollett) Collection

For further details, please email Geoff Tann at solsecretary@gmail.com

ISBN 978-0-9931263-5-2. £8.50