img src="boole.jpg">
George Boole first attended a school in Lincoln, then a commercial school. His early instruction in mathematics, however, was from his father who also gave George a liking for constructing optical instruments. George's interests turned to languages and he received instruction in Latin from a local bookseller. By the age of 12 George had become so skilled in Latin that it provoked an argument. He translated an ode by the Latin poet Horace which his father was so proud of that he had it published. However the talent was such that a local schoolmaster disputed that any 12 year old could have written with such depth. Boole did not study for an academic degree, but from the age of 16 he was an assistant school teacher. He maintained his interest in languages and intended to enter the Church. From 1835, however, he seems to have changed his mind for he opened his own school and began to study mathematics on his own. He was later to realise that he had almost wasted five years in trying to teach himself the subject instead of having a skilled teacher.
Boole was appointed to the chair of mathematics at Queens College, Cork in 1849. He taught there for the rest of his life, gaining a reputation as an outstanding and dedicated teacher. In 1854 he published An investigation into the Laws of Thought, on Which are founded the Mathematical Theories of Logic and Probabilities. Boole approached logic in a new way reducing it to a simple algebra, incorporating logic into mathematics. He pointed out the analogy between algebraic symbols and those that represent logical forms. It began the algebra of logic called Boolean algebra which now finds application in computer construction, switching circuits etc. Boole also worked on differential equations, the influential Treatise on Differential Equations appeared in 1859, the calculus of finite differences, Treatise on the Calculus of Finite Differences (1860), and general methods in probability. He published around 50 papers and was one of the first to investigate the basic properties of numbers, such as the distributive property, that underlie the subject of algebra.
George Boole died in 1864, at the age of 49.