Dr Stanley Richardson 1943-2008

In memory of an outstanding mathematician

Dr Stanley Richardson

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Alex Robertson

26 March 2008

In 2007 two issues of the science journal Phsyica D were devoted to "seminal discoveries made in interface dynamics by Stan Richardson." This marked a celebration of the career of a magnificent mathematician who had speedily established himself as a world class figure in his field.

Dr. Stanley Richardson was born near Macclesfield in 1943. He studied at Cambridge, completing the four year long course on the Mathematical Tripos in only three, before going on to do his PhD. He was a keen cyclist, famously traveling to and from his Cambridge interview by bike. Apart from a short stint as assistant lecturer at the University of Manchester, he spent his next 6 years at Cambridge, coming to Edinburgh as a lecturer in 1971. He was promoted to reader in 1995 and was due to retire in September this year. John Byatt-Smith, a colleague for their 37 years together in Edinburgh, remembers Dr Richardson when he arrived as "the heart and soul of the building; when everyone met for coffee he always brought a little ten minute problem along to share."

Dr Richardson was a remarkable example of university teaching at its best. Despite his Further Complex Analysis course having a reputation for being very challenging, it was the most highly attended 4th year course on offer. He taught by explaining, seldom using the blackboard, preferring to talk through his ideas in an animated and engaging way. He peppered his lectures with mathematical anecdotes putting the material in context both with respect to its place in history, and to how it related to contemporary research. He talked about 'we mathematicians' in a way that allowed his audience to feel pride in being part of that group.

The steep rise in Edinburgh house prices in the 1970's saw Dr Richardson move to Stow in the Borders. Although he spoke with fondness of the beauty of the area, he found the 90 minute journey to and from the University on public transport trying and unreliable. During Edinburgh's comparatively mild winters he frequently reminded students that "Edinburgh was a micro-climate," they being unaware that in Stow he was regularly penned in by snow and, on a number of occasions, without power for days at a time.

Dr Richardson was most renowned for his research into Hele-Shaw flow: the way in which a viscous liquid flows between two parallel plates. His research was born of his enduring fascination with conformal mappings, a fascination which any visitor to his office could not fail to notice: the door and the adjacent hallway were quite literally wallpapered with illustrations of these objects, each diagram a beautifully presented contortion of a rainbow coloured grid, much like the one featured.

Behind his friendly enthusiasm, however, Dr Richardson was troubled in his working life. In recent years he had greatly reduced the amount of work he published, reflecting a difficult relationship with the mathematical community around him. This in no way meant that he reduced his level of mathematical activity; indeed he was looking forward to his retirement, so that he could focus on research unhampered by day to day departmental demands. He was a man who was a long way from being finished with Mathematics, a field which has lost a great deal from his early death.

Dr Richardson was taken to hospital on the evening of 11 March 2008 after having suffered a heart attack. That night he gave instructions to his wife Jan detailing the next day's appointments that he would have to miss. He died in hospital the following morning.