John Venn

:"See also John Venn (regicide)."

John Venn FRS (Hull,Yorkshire, August 4, 1834 – Cambridge, April 4, 1923), was a British logician and philosopher, who is famous for the Venn diagrams, which are used in many fields, including set theory, probability, logic, statistics, and computer science.

Life and work

John Venn's mother, Martha Sykes, came from Swanland near Hull, Yorkshire and died while John was still quite young. His father was the Rev Henry Venn who, at the time of John's birth, was the rector of the parish of Drypool near Hull. Henry Venn, himself a fellow of Queens', was from a family of distinction. His father, John's grandfather, was the Rev John Venn who had been the rector of Clapham in south London. He became the leader of the Clapham Sect, a group of evangelical Christians centred on his church who campaigned for prison reform and the abolition of slavery and cruel sports.

Venn's father also played a prominent role in the evangelical Christian movement. The Society for Missions in Africa and the East was founded by evangelical clergy of the Church of England in 1799 and in 1812 it was renamed the Church Missionary Society for Africa and the East. Venn's father was secretary to this Society from 1841. He moved to Highgate near London in order to carry out his duties. He held this position until his death in 1873.

John was brought up strictly. It was expected that he would follow the family tradition into the Christian ministry. After Highgate School, Venn entered Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, in 1853. He graduated in 1857 and shortly afterwards he was elected a fellow of the college. He was ordained as a deacon at Ely in 1858 and became a priest in 1859. In 1862 he returned to Cambridge as a lecturer in moral sciences.

Venn's main area of interest was logic and he published three texts on the subject. He wrote "The Logic of Chance" which introduced the frequency interpretation of probability in 1866, "Symbolic Logic" which introduced the Venn diagrams in 1881, and "The Principles of Empirical Logic" in 1889.

In 1883, Venn was elected to the Royal Society. In 1897, he wrote a history of his college, called "The Biographical History of Gonville and Caius College,1349–1897". He commenced a compilation of biographical notes of the alumni of Cambridge University, a work which was continued by his son, John Archibald Venn (1883-1958) and published as "Alumni Cantabrigienses" in 10 volumes from 1922-1953.

Memorials

* A stained glass window in the dining hall of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, commemorates Venn's work.
* Venn is commemorated at the University of Hull by the Venn Building, built in 1928.
* In a recent BBC poll, Venn was voted as the third greatest mathematician of modern times, narrowly beaten by Sir Isaac Newton and Leonhard Euler, who ranked first and second respectively.Fact|date=October 2007

Works online

* [http://fair-use.org/mind/1876/01/consistency-and-real-inference "Consistency and Real Inference"] , from "Mind" Volume 1, Number 1 (January 1876).
* cite book
title=Symbolic logic
author=John Venn
year=1881
publisher=Chelsea Publ.co.
isbn=
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=nisCAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=john+venn&as_brr=1 (1881)
* cite book
title=Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society
author=Cambridge Philosophical Society
year=1883
publisher=University Press
isbn=
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=GpI1AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA47&dq=john+venn&as_brr=1#PPA47,M1 (1883) "Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society", vol. 4, pages 47 – 59
* "The Logic of Chance: An Essay on the Foundations and Province of the Theory of Probability"
** First Edition (1866): [http://books.google.com/books?id=vMBVEVc_M3MC&dq=editions:09V3JZZfabqkCAexyAoexy&lr=&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0 Google Book Seach]
** Second Edition (1876): [http://books.google.com/books?id=TaMZAAAAMAAJ&dq=editions:09V3JZZfabqkCAexyAoexy&lr=&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0 Google Book Search] or [http://www.archive.org/details/50424309 Internet Archive]
** Third Edition (1888): [http://books.google.com/books?id=RR0jgsRmVZsC&dq=john+venn&as_brr=1&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0 Google Book Search] or [http://www.archive.org/details/logicofchance029416mbp Internet Archive]
* cite book
title=Caius College
author=John Venn
year=1901
publisher=F. E. Robinson & Co.
isbn=
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=1A4BAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=john+venn&as_brr=1 (1901)
* cite book
title=The Annals of Gonville and Caius College
author=John Caius, John Venn
year=1904
publisher=Printed for the Cambridge Antiquarian Society, sold by Deighton, Bell & Co.
isbn=
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=qJmUDQaAHBwC&printsec=frontcover&dq=john+venn&as_brr=1 (1904) - by John Caius, edited by John Venn

References

* cite journal
author = John Venn
title = On the Diagrammatic and Mechanical Representation of Propositions and Reasonings
journal = Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science
volume = 9
issue = 59
pages = 1--18
date = 1880

* cite journal
author =
title = Obituary (John Venn)
journal = Proc. Royal. Soc. London A
volume = 110
issue =
pages = x - xi
date = 1926

Links

* [http://www.mundus.ac.uk/cats/44/1206.htm The Venn archives] clarify the confusing timeline of the various Venns.
* [http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Obits/Venn.html Obituary of John Venn] (New York Times)
* [http://www.theory.cs.uvic.ca/~cos/venn/VennPaintEJC.html Portrait of Venn] by Charles Brock, and a link to a site about Venn
* Another (clearer) view of the [http://www.theory.cs.uvic.ca/~cos/venn/gifs/VennStain.gifVenn stained glass window]
* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=14054755 Grave of John Venn]

Persondata
NAME=Venn, John
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Венн, Джон (Russian)
SHORT DESCRIPTION=English logician
DATE OF BIRTH=August 4, 1834
PLACE OF BIRTH=Hull, Yorkshire
DATE OF DEATH=April 4, 1923
PLACE OF DEATH=Cambridge, England