Marston Morse


Harold Calvin Marston Morse was an American mathematician best known for his work on the calculus of variations in the large, a subject where he introduced the technique of differential topology now known as Morse theory. The Morse–Palais lemma, one of the key results in Morse theory, is named after him, as is the Thue–Morse sequence, an infinite binary sequence with many applications. In 1933 he was awarded the Bôcher Memorial Prize for his work in mathematical analysis.

Biography

He was born in Waterville, Maine to Ella Phoebe Marston and Howard Calvin Morse in 1892. He received his bachelor's degree from Colby College in 1914. At Harvard University, he received both his master's degree in 1915 and his Ph.D. in 1917.
He taught at Harvard, Brown, and Cornell Universities before accepting a position in 1935 at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, where he remained until his retirement in 1962.
He spent most of his career on a single subject, now known as Morse theory, a branch of differential topology. Morse theory is a very important subject in modern mathematical physics, such as string theory.
Marston Morse should not be confused with Anthony Morse, famous for the Morse–Sard theorem.

Selected publications

Articles