Sir Alfred Bray Kempe D.C.L. F.R.S. (6 July 1849, Kensington, London – 21 April 1922, London) was a mathematician best known for his work on linkages and the four color theorem. Kempe studied at Trinity College, Cambridge where Arthur Cayley was one of his teachers. He graduated with distinction in 1874. Despite his interest in mathematics he became a barrister, specializing in the ecclesiastical law. He was knighted in 1913, the same year he become the Chancellor for the Diocese of London. He received the honorary degree D.C.L. from the University of Durham. In 1877 Kempe rediscovered a straight line linkage and published his influential lectures on the subject. In 1879 he wrote his famous incorrect "proof" of the four color theorem, which was shown to be incorrect by Percy Heawood in 1890. Much later, his work lead to fundamental concepts such as the Kempe chain and unavoidable sets. Kempe was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1881. He was a president of the London Mathematical Society from 1892 to 1894. He was also a mountain climber, mostly in Switzerland.
External links
- O'Connor, John J; Edmund F. Robertson "Alfred Kempe". MacTutor History of Mathematics archive.
- A.B. Kempe, How to Draw a Straight Line, London: Macmillan and Co. 1877.
