Born: 2 November 1815 · Died: 8 December 1864 · Age: 49
English mathematician who revolutionised logic by creating Boolean algebra, the binary system underlying modern computing and digital technology
Quick facts
Date of birth2 November 1815
Date of death8 December 1864
Age at death49
NationalityBritish
BirthplaceLincoln, United Kingdom
Editor's Take:
Boole's journey from shoemaker's son to mathematical revolutionary exemplifies Victorian autodidacticism. Teaching at sixteen to feed his siblings, he mastered calculus alone using borrowed books. His transformation of logic from philosophical rhetoric into algebraic equations was initially theoretical curiosity; only a century later did Claude Shannon recognise its application to electrical circuits. The binary system Boole invented in Lincoln boarding-school years now powers every digital device. His five daughters produced an extraordinary intellectual dynasty, including a great-great-grandson who won a Nobel Prize. Boole died at forty-nine from pneumonia, never witnessing the Information Age his algebra would enable.
Key Milestones
1844: Won Royal Society's inaugural mathematics gold medal
1847: Introduced Boolean algebra as binary logical framework
1849: Appointed first mathematics professor at Queen's College Cork
1854: Published The Laws of Thought, defining Boolean logic
George Boole ( BOOL; 2 November 1815 – 8 December 1864) was an English mathematician and philosopher often credited with revolutionizing logic by transforming it from a philosophical study of language into a mathematical system of algebraic equations using binary values and logical operators.
George Boole's birthday is November 2. He was born on November 2, 1815 in Lincoln, United Kingdom.
How old was George Boole when he died?
George Boole died on December 8, 1864, aged 49.
Who shares a birthday with George Boole?
Famous people who share George Boole's November 2 birthday include James K. Polk, Warren G. Harding, Shah Rukh Khan, Marie Antoinette and Vlad the Impaler.
