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W.E. Milne Collection, 1905-1981

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Milne, William Edmund, 1890-
Title
W.E. Milne Collection
Dates
1905-1981 (inclusive)
Quantity
0.8 cubic feet, (2 boxes and 1 map folder)
Collection Number
MSS Milne
Summary
The W.E. Milne Collection documents Milne's mathematics research and consists primarily of Milne's research publications. Milne headed the Mathematics Department at Oregon State College from 1932 to 1955 and was a pioneer in numerical analysis and computer mathematics.
Repository
Oregon State University Libraries, Special Collections and Archives Research Center
Special Collections and Archives Research Center
121 The Valley Library
Oregon State University
Corvallis OR
97331-4501
Telephone: 5417372075
Fax: 5417378674
scarc@oregonstate.edu
Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research.

Languages
English, Russian
Sponsor
Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
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Biographical Note

Mathematics Professor William Edmund (Ted) Milne headed the Mathematics Department at Oregon State College from 1932 until 1955.

Born in Pendleton, Oregon, Milne earned an A.B. degree in Mathematics from Whitman College in 1912 and A.M. and Ph.D. degrees from Harvard University in 1913 and 1915. He served on the faculty of Bowdoin College from 1915 until 1918 and then spent one year during World War I working with a group of mathematicians at Aberdeen Proving Ground on problems of ballistic path calculations. In 1919 he returned to Oregon as a faculty member in mathematics at the University of Oregon. In 1932, he became head of the Mathematics Department at Oregon State College, a position he held until his retirement in 1955. In 1950-1951, he held a substitute position in the National Bureau of Standards Institute for Numerical Analysis.

Milne was a pioneer in numerical analysis and computer mathematics and was known around the world for the "Milne method" of solving differential equations and for his three textbooks and many technical papers. He continued his research after retirement and was awarded the OSU Distinguished Service Award posthumously in June 1971. The Milne Computer Center was dedicated in his name in April 1972.

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Content Description

The W.E. Milne Collection consists primarily of mathematical publications (including reprints) by Milne. It also includes reprints of publications by others sent to Milne; a portrait photograph of Milne; and the final page of the console printer log from the OS-3 Operating System on the Control Data Corp. 3300 computer which served Oregon State University from 1965 until 1981.

Of particular note among Milne's publications is the 1953 Russian translation of his publication, Numerical Solutions of Differential Equations.

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Use of the Collection

Preferred Citation

W.E. Milne Collection, Oregon State University Archives, Corvallis, Oregon.

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Administrative Information

Acquisition Information

These materials were transferred to the Archives from the Milne Computer Center in 1996.

Related Materials

The Mathematics Department Records (RG 136) include Milne's general correspondence from the 1930s. A detailed history of the Milne Family is available in the Memorabilia Collection (MC - Milne, W.E. and Bessie, Family History).

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Detailed Description of the Collection

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Subject Terms

  • Differential equations--Numerical solutions
  • Mathematics--Study and teaching--Oregon
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