Harold Edwards (mathematician)

Harold Mortimer Edwards, Jr. (August 6, 1936 – November 10, 2020) was an American mathematician working in number theory, algebra, and the history and philosophy of mathematics.

He was one of the co-founding editors, with Bruce Chandler, of The Mathematical Intelligencer. He is the author of expository books on the Riemann zeta function, on Galois theory, and on Fermat's Last Theorem. He wrote a book on Leopold Kronecker's work on divisor theory providing a systematic exposition of that work—a task that Kronecker never completed. He wrote textbooks on linear algebra, calculus, and number theory. He also wrote a book of essays on constructive mathematics.

Edwards graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1956, received a Master of Arts from Columbia University in 1957, and a Ph.D from Harvard University in 1961, under the supervision of Raoul Bott. He taught at Harvard and Columbia University; he joined the faculty at New York University in 1966, and was an emeritus professor starting in 2002.

In 1980, Edwards won the Leroy P. Steele Prize for Mathematical Exposition of the American Mathematical Society, for his books on the Riemann zeta function and Fermat's Last Theorem. For his contribution in the field of the history of mathematics he was awarded the Albert Leon Whiteman Memorial Prize by the AMS in 2005. In 2012 he became a fellow of the American Mathematical Society.

Edwards was married to Betty Rollin, a former NBC News correspondent, author, and breast cancer survivor. Edwards died on November 10, 2020, of colon cancer.