mathematics

J. V. Uspensky

J. V. Uspensky is a mathematics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand J. V. Uspensky rather than just read about it. In short: James Victor Uspensky (Russian: Яков Викторович Успенский, romanized: Yakov Viktorovich Uspensky; April 29, 1883 – January 27, 1947) was a Russian and American mathematician notable for writing Theory of Equations. Biography Uspensky graduated from the University of St.

Key takeaways

J. V. Uspensky belongs to mathematics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect J. V. Uspensky to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of J. V. Uspensky from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

James Victor Uspensky (Russian: Яков Викторович Успенский, romanized: Yakov Viktorovich Uspensky; April 29, 1883 – January 27, 1947) was a Russian and American mathematician notable for writing Theory of Equations.

Biography Uspensky graduated from the University of St. Petersburg in 1906 and received his doctorate from the University of St. Petersburg in 1910. He was a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences from 1921. Uspensky joined the faculty of Stanford University in 1929-30 and 1930–31 as acting professor of mathematics. He was professor of mathematics at Stanford from 1931 until his death. Uspensky was the one who kept alive Vincent's theorem of 1834 and 1836, carrying the torch (so to speak) from Serret.

Books Uspensky, J. V. (1948). Theory of equations. Uspensky, J. V.; Heaslet, M. A. (1939). Elementary Number Theory. Uspensky, J. V. (1937). Introduction to mathematical probability.

Notes

References J. V. Uspensky (1931). "On Ch. Jordan's Series for Probability". Annals of Mathematics. Second Series. 32 (2): 306–312. doi:10.2307/1968193. JSTOR 1968193. J. V. Uspensky (1926–1927). "On the Development of Arbitrary Functions in Series of Hermite's and Laguerre's Polynomials". Annals of Mathematics. Second Series. 28 (1/4): 593–619. doi:10.2307/1968401. JSTOR 1968401. Halsey Royden (1988). The History of the Mathematics Department at Stanford, in A Century of Mathematics in America edited by Peter L. Duren, Richard Askey, and Uta C. Merzbach. American Mathematical Society, History of Mathematics Volume 2, Providence, Rhode Island. "A History of Mathematics at Stanford" by Halsey Royden.

External links J. V. Uspensky at the Mathematics Genealogy Project

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with J. V. Uspensky

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what J. V. Uspensky claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In mathematics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to J. V. Uspensky before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about J. V. Uspensky ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of J. V. Uspensky

In research: J. V. Uspensky appears in mathematics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses J. V. Uspensky in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: J. V. Uspensky is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1883 births, 1947 deaths, 20th-century Russian mathematicians, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for J. V. Uspensky outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study J. V. Uspensky in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what J. V. Uspensky means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain J. V. Uspensky out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is J. V. Uspensky in simple terms?

Why does J. V. Uspensky matter?

Because it connects several mathematics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study J. V. Uspensky?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on J. V. Uspensky.