mathematics

T. O. Engset

T. O. Engset 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 T. O. Engset rather than just read about it. In short: Tore Olaus Engset (May 8, 1865 – October, 1943 in Oslo) was a Norwegian mathematician and engineer who did pioneering work in the field of telephone traffic queuing theory. Tore Olaus Engset was born in Stranda Municipality in Møre og Romsdal, Norway.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Tore Olaus Engset (May 8, 1865 – October, 1943 in Oslo) was a Norwegian mathematician and engineer who did pioneering work in the field of telephone traffic queuing theory.

Tore Olaus Engset was born in Stranda Municipality in Møre og Romsdal, Norway. After he graduated school at the age of 18, Engset was admitted to the telegraph school in Stavanger in 1883. He received his certificate in a year and took employment. In his spare time he continued his studies, graduating in 1892 but continuing his university studies. Engset received an M.Sc. in physics and mathematics in 1894 at University of Oslo, after which he worked at Televerket as office worker, traffic analyst and from 1921 to 1922 and 1930–35 director general. He developed the Engset formula in 1915, before the breakthroughs of A. K. Erlang from 1917. His 1915 manuscript "Om beregningen av vælgere i et automatisk telefonsystem" (1915) was not, however, published until 1918. That work was translated to German as "Die Wahrscheinlichkeitsrechnung zur Bestimmung der Wählerzahl in automatischen Fernsprechämtern", in Elektrotechnische Zeitschrift, Heft 31, 1918. An English translation appeared in Arne Myskja, "On the Calculation of Switches in an Automatic Telephone System" in Telektronikk, 94(2):99-142, 1998. He also published a work on nuclear physics (1927): "Die Bahnen und die Lichtstrahlung der Wasserstoffelektronen. Ergänzende Betrachtungen über Bahnformen und Strahlungsfrequenzen" (3 parts) in Annalen der Physik, 82 (1927) 1017; 83 (1927) 903; 84 (1927) 880.

References

Bibliography Arne Myskja: T. Engset in New Light. The 14th Nordic Teletraffic Seminar (NTS-14), Lyngby, Denmark, August 18–20, 1998. Arne Myskja: The Engset Report of 1915. Summary and Comments. Telektronikk, vol. 94, no. 2, pp. 143–153, 1998. Arne Myskja, Ola Espvik: Tore Olaus Engset - The man behind the formula. Tapir Academic Press, Trondheim, Norway, 2002. ISBN 82-519-1828-6.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with T. O. Engset

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what T. O. Engset 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 T. O. Engset 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 T. O. Engset 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 T. O. Engset

In research: T. O. Engset 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 T. O. Engset 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: T. O. Engset is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1865 births, 1943 deaths, European mathematician stubs, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for T. O. Engset 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 T. O. Engset in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what T. O. Engset 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 T. O. Engset out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is T. O. Engset in simple terms?

Tore Olaus Engset (May 8, 1865 – October, 1943 in Oslo) was a Norwegian mathematician and engineer who did pioneering work in the field of telephone traffic queuing theory. Tore Olaus Engset was born in Stranda Municipality in Møre og Romsdal, Norway.

Why does T. O. Engset 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 T. O. Engset?

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 T. O. Engset.