Richard K. Guy
| R. K. Guy | |
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| Born | Richard Kenneth Guy 30 September 1916 Nuneaton, England |
| Nationality | British/Canadian |
| Fields | Mathematics |
| Institutions | University of Calgary |
| Alma mater |
Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Cambridge [BA 1938, MA 1941] |
| Known for |
number theory geometry Recreational mathematics Strong Law of Small Numbers unistable polyhedron |
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Website University of Calgary: Richard Guy |
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Richard Kenneth Guy (born 30 September 1916) is a British mathematician, professor emeritus in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Calgary. He is known for his work in number theory, geometry, recreational mathematics, combinatorics, and graph theory. He is best known for co-authorship (with John Conway and Elwyn Berlekamp) of Winning Ways for your Mathematical Plays and authorship of Unsolved Problems in Number Theory. He has also published over 300 papers. Guy proposed the partially tongue-in-cheek "Strong Law of Small Numbers," which says there are not enough small integers available for the many tasks assigned to them — thus explaining many coincidences and patterns found among numerous cultures. For this paper he received the MAA Lester R. Ford Award.
Guy was born 30 Sept 1916 in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England, to Adeline Augusta Tanner and William Alexander Charles Guy. Both of his parents were teachers, rising to the rank of headmistress and headmaster, respectively. He attended Warwick School for Boys, the third oldest school in Britain, but was not enthusiastic about most of the curriculum. He was good at sports, however, and excelled in mathematics. At the age of 17 he read Dickson's History of the Theory of Numbers. He said it was better than "the whole works of Shakespeare." His future was set. By then he had also developed a passion for mountain climbing.
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