Augustus Edward Hough Love

Who was Augustus Edward Hough Love?

Augustus Edward Hough Love FRS, often known as A. E. H. Love, was a mathematician famous for his work on the mathematical theory of elasticity. He also worked on wave propagation and his work on the structure of the Earth in Some Problems of Geodynamics won for him the Adams prize in 1911 when he developed a mathematical model of surface waves known as Love waves. This work was published as a book with the help of the Cambridge University Press in 1911. It was published again in 1967 by Dover, New York, USA. Love waves were discussed in Chapter 11 of this book.

Love also contributed to the theory of tidal locking and introduced the parameters known as Love numbers, which are widely used today. These numbers are also used in problems related to the tidal deformation of the Earth due to the gravitational attraction of the Moon and Sun.

He was educated at Wolverhampton Grammar School and in 1881 won a scholarship to St John's College, Cambridge, where he was at first undecided whether to study classics or mathematics. His successful progress vindicated his choice of mathematics, and in 1886 he was elected Fellow of the college. In 1899 he was appointed Sedleian Professor of Natural Philosophy in the University of Oxford, a position which he retained until his death in 1940. He was also a Fellow of Queen's College.