Norman Johnson (mathematician)

Norman Woodason Johnson (November 12, 1930 – July 13, 2017) was an American mathematician known for his important work in geometry. He spent much of his career teaching and researching at Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts. Johnson made significant contributions to the study of polyhedra—solid shapes with flat faces—and helped develop new ways to understand their properties.

His work helped mathematicians and scientists see patterns in complex shapes, which can be useful in many areas, from computer graphics to architecture. Johnson's ideas continue to influence how people study geometry today.

For a different person with the same name, see Norman Lloyd Johnson.

Early life and education

Norman Johnson was born on November 12, 1930 in Chicago. His father owned a bookstore and published a local newspaper.

Johnson completed his undergraduate mathematics degree in 1953 at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota and later earned a master's degree from the University of Pittsburgh. He then earned his PhD from the University of Toronto in 1966. After that, he taught mathematics at Wheaton College in Massachusetts until he retired in 1998.

Career

In 1966, Norman Johnson discovered and listed 92 special 3D shapes made from regular polygons, which are now called Johnson solids. His work was later confirmed to be complete by another mathematician named Victor Zalgaller in 1969.

Johnson also gave names to many other interesting star-shaped 3D forms and their matching opposite shapes, which were published in books by Magnus Wenninger in 1971 and 1983.

Death and final works

Norman Johnson finished the final edits for his book Geometries and Transformations just before he passed away on July 13, 2017. He had also nearly finished writing a manuscript about uniform polytopes.

Works

Norman Johnson wrote many important papers about shapes and geometry. Some of his well-known works include:

• "A Geometric Model for the Generalized Symmetric Group"
• "The Faces of a Regular-Faced Polyhedron"
• "Convex polyhedra with regular faces"
• The theory of uniform polytopes and honeycombs
• Geometries and Transformations