Augustus de Morgan
modernMathematical Logic1806 – 1871
Augustus de Morgan (1806–1871) was a British mathematician and logician who made foundational contributions to formal logic and algebra. A professor at University College London, he systematized propositional logic and extended Aristotelian syllogistics into a more rigorous formal framework. He is best known for the laws bearing his name, which establish the duality between conjunction and disjunction under negation.
Notable Achievements
1
Formulated De Morgan's laws governing negation of conjunction and disjunction
2
Authored Formal Logic (1847), a landmark systematization of propositional and syllogistic logic
3
Extended syllogistic logic to relations, anticipating relational logic
4
Coined the term 'mathematical induction' and gave it rigorous formulation
5
Co-founded the London Mathematical Society (1865)