This article discusses the life and times of Oliver Heaviside.

Oliver's reputation as a clever worker had probably preceded him to Newcastle, coupled with the knowledge that he was Wheatstone's nephew. First impressions were favourable: one of his new colleagues remembered him as 'a very gentlemanly looking young man, always well dressed, of slim build, fair hair and ruddy complexion'. He was quiet and often wrapped in his own thoughts but by no means insular: he was always ready to explain the workings of the apparatus to newcomers and to discuss technical matters with anyone who had a genuine interest. Writers about Heaviside have generally commented that he didn't make much of a mark during his four years with the Great Northern in Newcastle. This is broadly true, but he did his duty well and, as we shall see, saved the company money with some ingenious trouble-shooting. Looking at things the other way, these four years of telegraph work certainly made a mark on him.

Oliver went on ploughing his lonely furrow, examining electrical circuits from all angles and writing up the results for publication. Sometimes he reported on experiments, for example giving admirably clear guidance on the use of carbon contacts in microphones, but most of the papers were theoretical and packed with mathematics of ever-increasing complexity. His well of inspiration was full and his main concern was to find enough outlets for the words and symbols that poured from his pen. By his thirtieth birthday he had published fifteen papers but they were spread rather haphazardly among five different journals. This way, he was able to keep the traffic flowing without serious log-jams but he could never be sure that successive papers with a common theme would appear in the same journal. Then events took a happy turn. In September 1882 he had a letter from C.H.W. Biggs, editor of The Electrician.

By the time he struck up an alliance with Lodge, Fitzgerald and Hertz in 1888, Oliver Heaviside had been living much the same life for fourteen years. The daily routine rarely varied reading, exercise and experiments during the day, followed by theoretical work into the night. His only professional colleague was his brother Arthur, for whom he sometimes acted as unofficial and unpaid scientific adviser The informal arrangement suited them both. Arthur had become an important man in the Post Office Senior Engineer of the Northern Division and valued Oliver's views on technical matters. In return, he sent Oliver equipment for experiments and kept him abreast of news in the telegraph and telephone industry.

This chapter discusses the life and works of Oliver Heaviside, and his contributions on physical mathematics.

The chapter discusses the life and times of Oliver Heaviside.

The chapter presents a historical perspective on the legacy that Heaviside left for the fields of mathematics and engineering.