4-21-32. Thomas Craig to H. Poincaré

March 12/91

American Journal of Mathematics

Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, Md.

My dear Monsieur Poincaré,

I have not had the pleasure of hearing from you for a long time, not since I published your portrait in the Am. Jour. of Math.11endnote: 1 A little over two years had passed since Poincaré’s head and shoulders portrait and signature appeared on the first page of Volume 12 of the American Journal of Mathematics, in October 1889. I hope you received the copies of the same which I sent to you by President Gilman. I thank you for the tirages à part that I have just received from you. My copy of the Acta, as also the University copy, has for some reason not yet arrived, so I have not read the crowned memoir, it will doubtless come soon.22endnote: 2 Poincaré (1890). Has the second volume of your course on light appeared yet?33endnote: 3 The second volume of Poincaré’s lectures on the mathematical theory of light was published in 1892, three years after the first volume; see Poincaré (1892). In these lectures, Poincaré discussed both the elastic theory of light and Maxwell’s electromagnetic theory, and he introduced what was latter dubbed the Poincaré polarization sphere (on which see Kahr, 2021). I have seen no notice of it. Several men here who are desirous of procuring it have asked me about it. How soon can you send me something more for publication? I hope you will find it convenient to do so before very long. I should like to open volume XIV with a memoir from you. I hope you will consider favorably my request and let me hear from you as ever

very truly yours,

Thomas Craig

ALS 2p. Collection particulière, Paris 75017.

Time-stamp: " 9.06.2022 21:27"

Notes

  • 1 A little over two years had passed since Poincaré’s head and shoulders portrait and signature appeared on the first page of Volume 12 of the American Journal of Mathematics, in October 1889.
  • 2 Poincaré (1890).
  • 3 The second volume of Poincaré’s lectures on the mathematical theory of light was published in 1892, three years after the first volume; see Poincaré (1892). In these lectures, Poincaré discussed both the elastic theory of light and Maxwell’s electromagnetic theory, and he introduced what was latter dubbed the Poincaré polarization sphere (on which see Kahr, 2021).

References

  • B. Kahr (2021) Poincaré and his polarization sphere. Chirality 33, pp. 758–772. link1, link2 Cited by: endnote 3.
  • H. Poincaré (1890) Sur le problème des trois corps et les équations de la dynamique. Acta mathematica 13, pp. 1–270. link1 Cited by: endnote 2.
  • H. Poincaré (1892) Théorie mathématique de la lumière II. Georges Carré, Paris. link1 Cited by: endnote 3.