Sylvester, James Joseph

Sylvester, James Joseph, 1814-97, English mathematician. He studied at Cambridge for four years after 1831, but because degrees were limited to members of the Church of England and he was a Jew, he was not granted a degree until 1872. He was professor of mathematics at the Univ. of Virginia (1841) and at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, England (1855-70). Returning to the United States in 1876, he became the first professor of mathematics at Johns Hopkins, where in 1878 he founded the American Journal of Mathematics. He was Savilian professor of geometry at Oxford (1883-94). He is known especially for his work on algebraic invariants, matrices, determinants, and the theory of numbers, much of his most important work being done in collaboration with Arthur Cayley.

Sylvester may refer to:

In some countries Sylvester (or Silvester) is the name used to refer to December 31st (New Year's Eve). As a name, it means "wooded", from the root Sylvania meaning "forest land" in Latin.

As a single name, the following churchmen

• Pope Sylvester I (Saint Sylvester)
• Pope Sylvester II
• Pope Sylvester III
• Antipope Sylvester IV
• Saint Sylvester (disambiguation)
• Sylvester of Kiev
• Sylvester of Moscow
• Sylvester of Assisi (companion of Saint Francis of Assisi)
• Sylvester of Worcester early 13th century Bishop of Worcester

Given name

• Sylvester of Marsico
• Sylvester Gozzolini, founder of the Sylvestrines
• Sylvester (singer), disco performer
• Sylvester Stallone, actor
• Sylvester McCoy, actor
• Sylvester Terkay, American Professional Wrestler

Surnames

• Dean Sylvester, American hockey player
• Harold Sylvester, American film and television actor
• James Joseph Sylvester, English mathematician
• Joshua Sylvester, English poet
• Michael Sylvester, American opera-singer
• Rick Sylvester, American stuntman
• Robin Sylvester, English musician
• Sherry Sylvester, American political worker and journalist
• Tamzin Sylvester, English journalist and presenter
• William Sylvester, American TV and film actor
• William Henry Thomas Sylvester, English army officer and surgeon

Place names

• Saint-Sylvestre (disambiguation)
• Sylvester, Georgia
• Sylvester, West Virginia
• Sylvester, Wisconsin
• Sylvester crater, on the Moon, which is named after James Joseph Sylvester.

Fictional characters

• Sylvester J. Pussycat, Sr., a Looney Tunes character
• Sylvester Junior, a son of Sylvester J. Pussycat, Sr.
• Sylvester and the Magic Pebble
• Sylvester (1985), a movie about a horse and the sport of eventing

See also

• Saint Sylvester (disambiguation)
• Saint-Sylvestre (disambiguation)