Clifford Truesdell

Clifford Truesdell studied at California Institute of Technology, Princeton University and John H. Francis Polytechnic High School. The recorded working language is English. The field of work recorded is applied mechanics, mechanics and mathematics. Employment is recorded with Johns Hopkins University, Indiana University Bloomington and Brown University. Works named in the authority record are Archive for History of Exact Sciences. Distinctions recorded are Guggenheim Fellowship, Panetti Ferrari Award, George David Birkhoff Prize and Bingham Medal.

• Birth Name — Clifford Ambrose Truesdell III • Born — 18 February 1919 • Birthplace — Los Angeles, California, U.S. • Died — 14 January 2000 • Place of death — Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. • Field — Mathematics Natural philosophy History of science • Thesis Title — The Membrane Theory of Shells of Revolution • Thesis Year — 1944 • Thesis Url — https: search.worldcat.org/title/79920186 • Doctoral Advisor — Solomon Lefschetz Harry Bateman • Doctoral Students — Walter Noll • Known for — Hypoelastic material Rational mechanics Rational thermodynamics Truesdell stress rate • Awards — Theodore von Karman Medal (1996) George David Birkhoff Prize (1978) Bingham Medal (1963)

Truesdell was born in Los Angeles, California. After high school, he spent two years in Europe learning French, German, and Italian, and improving his Latin and Greek. His linguistic skills stood him in good stead in his later historical investigations. At Caltech he was deeply influenced by the teaching of Harry Bateman. In particular, a course in partial differential equations "taught me the difference between an ordinary good teacher and a great mathematician, and after that I never cared what grade I got in anything." He obtained a B.Sc. in mathematics and physics in 1941, and an MSc. in mathematics in 1942. In 1943, he completed a Ph.D. in mathematics at Princeton University. For the rest of the decade, the U.S. Navy employed him to do mechanics research. Truesdell taught at Indiana University 1950–61, where his students included James Serrin, Jerald Ericksen, and Walter Noll. From 1961 until his retirement in 1989, Truesdell was professor of rational mechanics at Johns Hopkins University. With Noll and Bernard David Coleman, he contributed to foundational rational mechanics, whose aim is to construct a mathematical model for treating (continuous) mechanical phenomena. Truesdell was the founder and editor-in-chief of the journals Archive for Rational Mechanics and Analysis and Archive for History of Exact Sciences, which were unusual in several ways. Following Truesdell's criticisms of awkward style in scientific writing, the journal accepted papers in English, French, German, and Latin. In addition to his original work in mechanics, Truesdell was a major historian of science and mathematics, editing or co-editing six volumes of the collected works of Leonhard Euler.

Clifford Truesdell was recorded at birth as Clifford Ambrose Truesdell III. The authorities additionally record the headings Clifford Ambrose Truesdell III, Clifford Ambrose Truesdell, C. Truesdell and C. His recorded language was English. He was the child of Helen Truesdell Heath.

Clifford Truesdell worked in applied mechanics, mechanics, mathematics and history of science. He was employed by Johns Hopkins University, Indiana University Bloomington, Brown University, University of Michigan and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He belonged to American Academy of Arts and Sciences, International Academy of the History of Science, Academy of Sciences of Turin, Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti and Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei.