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Harold Jeffreys




He was born in Fatfield , County Durham , England . He studied at Armstrong College in Newcastle Upon Tyne , then part of the University Of Durham but later to become the University Of Newcastle . He then went to St John's College, Cambridge and became a fellow in 1914 . At Cambridge University he taught Mathematics , then Geophysics and finally became the Plumian Professor Of Astronomy .

He married another mathematician and physicist, Bertha Swirles ( 1903 - 1999 ), in 1940 and together they wrote ''Methods of Mathematical Physics''.

Among his other contributions was a Bayesian approach to Probability (also see Jeffreys Prior ), and the idea that the Earth's Planetary Core was liquid. He was Knight ed in 1953 .

Jeffreys received the Gold Medal Of The Royal Astronomical Society in 1937 .

He should not be confused with William H. Jefferys , also both an astronomer and a Bayesian.


REFERENCES

  • David Howie, "Interpreting Probability: Controversies and Developments in the Early Twentieth Century" (Cambridge University Press, 2002)


  • Maria Carla Galavotti. "Harold Jeffreys' Probabilistic Epistemology: Between Logicism And Subjectivism". ''British Journal for the Philosophy of Science'', 54(1):43-57 (March 2003). ''(A review of Jeffreys' approach to probability; includes remarks on R.A. Fisher , Frank P. Ramsey , and Bruno De Finetti . Also online: {Link without Title} )''



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