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XorNand

IGEORGE BOOLE 1815-1864

George Boole was born the son of a cobbler in the centre of the city of Lincoln almost 200 years ago, on November 2nd 1815.  Despite having no advanced formal education, he became an internationally acclaimed mathematics professor who developed the theory of binary logic which underpins all our modern technology; from medicine to music via communications and all points between.
 

If anything involves an electronic chip
somewhere along the line, then
it depends upon Boole’s ideas.
 

Above: just a few organisations which depend upon Boole's Logic (as do we all)

BOOLEfest aims to celebrate this great man by holding  an annual Arts & Sciences festival in Lincoln at the beginning of November.  This cultural umbrella is intended to bring local people together with university students and interested others from all over for various events celebrating and exploring culture with relevance to Boole or modern social experience.

Performances and exhibitions, will provide a context for public lectures, workshops and debates as well as being entertainments and diversions in their own right.  We aim for a cross between the Royal Institution’s Xmas Lectures and the Edinburgh Fringe; a film festival and the Burning Man; an art exhibition and a music gig.

All of this must start somewhere and 2010 will kick off gently with some public lecture/seminars, exhibitions and professional talks.  Hopefully next year it will grow with more students and staff getting involved.

PROGRAMME
Friday October 29th; 2.30pm; The Shed:
          Performance poetry event
5pm; MC0022: A lecture on:
          Boole’s 19th century Lincoln
Saturday October 30th 4.30pm Co-op Lecture Theatre:
First of an introductory series
          Boole’s Mathematics
Sunday October 31st; 6.30pm Co-op Lecture Theatre:
          Boole’s religious beliefs
Monday November 1st; 6pm Jackson Lecture Theatre:
A lecture by the Vice President of UCU
          Higher Education & New Technology
Tuesday November 2nd; (Boole’s birthday)
7pm Jackson Lecure Theatre
A surprise speaker of national repute,
          TBA
Saturday November 6th; from 2.30pm MHT foyer:
Geocaching -to launch the geocache and Boolean tour of Lincoln we will be setting several “travel bugs” free.


Throughout the festival, SIREN FM, (107.3 FM) the radio station housed at the university will be keeping abreast of events and integrating the spirit of Boole into its programmes.

George is behind the way your phone dials, the way your radio alarm wakes you, your shower washes you -even your toaster may be browning the bread just the way you like it courtesy of Professor Boole.

George spent the first three-quarters of his life based in Lincoln.  It was here that he began developing his Boolean Algebra, prior to moving to Cork in Ireland for the last fifteen years of his life (he died in 1864 –only 49 years old)

George was not merely a self-taught mathematical genius, he was also well read in literature (in several languages), loved poetry and gave considerable thought to education.

Boole's major treatise is
"The Laws of Thought"
 

Links to other sites about
the inventor of Boolean Logic
Boole Society
Boole Biography
Lincoln Cathedral & Boole
Cork & Boole
UCC Boolean Archive
Boole's 'Calculus of Logic'
Boole in Doncaster
Boolean Logic "Explained"  [sorry about the music]
Simple Set Theory related to Boolean Logic
Computing with logic gates
Stanford Encyclopedia
Wikipedia Boole

Festival Organisation
Website
Management & Production Team
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