Frank Nelson Cole

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name = Frank Nelson Cole


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birth_date = birth date|1861|9|20|mf=y
birth_place = Ashland, Massachusetts
death_date = death date and age|1926|5|26|1861|9|20|mf=y
death_place = New York City
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field = Mathematics
work_institution = Harvard University
University of Michigan
Columbia University
American Mathematical Society
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Frank Nelson Cole, Ph.D. (September 20 1861 – May 26 1926) was an American mathematician, born at Ashland, Massachusetts, and educated at Harvard, where he lectured on mathematics from 1885 to 1887.

Later, he was employed at the University of Michigan and Columbia University. Professor Cole became secretary of the American Mathematical Society in 1895 and an editor of its "Bulletin" in 1897.

Cole published a number of important papers, including "The Diurnal Variation of Barometric Pressure" (1892).

In 1903 Cole famously made a presentation to a meeting of the American Mathematical Society where he identified the factors of the Mersenne number 2⁶⁷-1, or M67. Edouard Lucas had demonstrated in 1876 that M67 must have factors (ie. was not prime), however he was unable to determine what those factors were. During Cole's so-called "lecture", he approached the chalkboard and in complete silence proceeded to calculate the value of M67, with the result being 147,573,952,589,676,412,927. Cole then moved to the other side of the board and wrote 193,707,721 x 761,838,257,287, and worked through the tedious calculations by hand. Upon completing the multiplication and demonstrating that the result equalled M67, Cole returned to his seat, not having uttered a word during the hour-long presentation. His audience greeted the presentation with a standing ovation. Cole later admitted that finding the factors had taken "three years of Sundays". [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A670051 BBC - h2g2 - Mersenne Numbers ] at www.bbc.co.uk]

Cole died in New York City, aged 64. The American Mathematical Society's Cole Prize was named in his honor.

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