Sylvester was born on 3 September 1814. He was educated in London, at the Royal Institution Liverpool, and St John's College Cambridge. In 1837 he held the Chair of Natural Philosophy at University College London for 4 years. In 1841 he went to the USA, being appointed to the Chair of Mathematics at the University of Virginia. He later worked at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, USA. From 1883 he was Savilian Professor of Geometry at Oxford University. Sylvester discovered a Theory of Reciprocants, which he made known at Oxford in 1885. He invented kinematical instruments, such as the Plagiograph and Geometrical Fan. He was the founder and first Editor of the 'American Journal of Mathematics'. He won many medals for his work. Sylvester also published a very large number of mathematical memoirs in English and foreign journals. He died on 15 March 1897.
From the guide to the Sylvester Letters, 1865-1896, (University College London)
