Mathematician George F. Carrier was a professional problem-solver. While teaching at Brown University and Harvard University over several decades, Carrier used mathematics to describe physics and engineering problems and deduce solutions.
Though the rest of the world knows him for his scientific achievements, Carrier’s friends and colleagues always knew him as a good-natured prankster.
Once during the annual Harvard Christmas party, Carrier jokingly had the Dean of Engineering arrested for a parking violation. On another occasion, during a seminar on guided missiles, Carrier and another professor carried the guest speaker out of the room claiming that he’d revealed classified information. Carrier didn’t let his high jinks get in the way of his hard work.
During his career, Carrier co-authored three academic textbooks and authored or contributed to more than 100 technical papers. He was also the associate editor of the SIAM Journal of Applied Mathematics, the Journal of Fluid Mechanics and the Quarterly of Applied Mathematics.
By Rachel Warren
