Editing Michael Spivak

{{Short description|American mathematician (1940–2020)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2023}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name              = Michael Spivak
| image             = Spivak Michael.jpg
| caption           = Spivak in 1974
| birth_date        = {{birth date|1940|05|25}}
| birth_place       = [[Queens]], New York City, U.S.
| death_date        = {{death date and age|2020|10|01|1940|05|25}}
| death_place       = [[Houston, Texas]], U.S.
| fields            = {{plainlist|
*[[Mathematics]]
*[[Differential geometry]]}}
| education         = {{plainlist|
*[[Harvard University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|AB]])
*[[Princeton University]] ([[Master of Arts|MA]], [[Doctor of Philosophy|PhD]])}}
| thesis_title      = On Spaces Satisfying Poincaré Duality
| thesis_url        = https://www.proquest.com/docview/302162093
| thesis_year       = 1964
| doctoral_advisor  = [[John Milnor]]
| known_for         = {{plainlist|
*''The Hitchhiker's Guide to Calculus''
*''[[Calculus on Manifolds (book)|Calculus on Manifolds: A Modern Approach to Classical Theorems of Advanced Calculus]]''
*''A Comprehensive Introduction to Differential Geometry''
*[[MathTime]]}}
| awards            = [[Leroy P. Steele Prize]] for Expository Writing (1985)
}}
'''Michael David Spivak'''<ref name="genealogy" /> (May 25, 1940{{spaced ndash}}October 1, 2020)<ref name="nams">{{Cite journal |date=October 1985 |title=1985 Steele Prizes Awarded at Summer Meeting in Laramie |url=https://www.ams.org/journals/notices/198510/198510FullIssue.pdf |journal=Notices of the American Mathematical Society |volume=32 |issue=243 |page=576 |access-date=November 30, 2021 |archive-date=November 30, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211130031304/https://www.ams.org/journals/notices/198510/198510FullIssue.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="tugboat">{{Cite journal |last=Beeton |first=Barbara |year=2021 |title=Michael D. Spivak, 1940–2020 |url=https://tug.org/TUGboat/tb42-3/tb132beeton-spivak.pdf |journal=TUGboat |volume=42 |issue=3 |pages=226–227 |doi=10.47397/tb/42-3/tb132beeton-spivak |s2cid=244121636 |access-date=29 November 2021 |archive-date=November 30, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211130194532/https://tug.org/TUGboat/tb42-3/tb132beeton-spivak.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> was an American [[mathematician]] specializing in [[differential geometry]], an expositor of mathematics, and the founder of Publish-or-Perish Press. Spivak was the author of the five-volume ''A Comprehensive Introduction to Differential Geometry'', which won the [[Leroy P. Steele Prize]] for expository writing in 1985.

== Biography ==
Spivak was born in [[Queens, New York]]. He received his [[Bachelor of Arts]] (A.B.) from [[Harvard University]] in 1960,<ref name=nams /> and in 1964 he received his [[Ph.D.]] from [[Princeton University]] under the supervision of [[John Milnor]], with his thesis, ''On Spaces Satisfying [[Poincaré duality|Poincaré Duality]]''.<ref name="genealogy">{{MathGenealogy|id=15162}}</ref> Afterwards, Spivak taught as a full-time Math Lecturer at [[Brandeis University]], whilst writing ''[[Calculus on Manifolds (book)|Calculus on Manifolds: A Modern Approach to Classical Theorems of Advanced Calculus]]'', which was later translated into Polish, Spanish, Japanese and Russian. In 1967, he won a year-long [[National Science Foundation]] fellowship to Princeton’s [[Institute for Advanced Study]], after which Spivak returned to Brandeis as Assistant Professor of Mathematics until 1970. In his last year as Assistant Professor, he published the first two volumes of "what would become a five-volume masterpiece with the daunting title, ''Comprehensive Introduction to Differential Geometry''."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.georgevecsey.com/home/one-brilliant-classmate-remembers-another|title=One Brilliant Classmate Remembers Another|website=GEORGE VECSEY}}</ref> In 1985, Spivak received the [[Leroy P. Steele Prize]] for this five-volume set.<ref>[[Leroy P. Steele Prize]]</ref>

In 2004, Spivak lectured on elementary physics.<ref>{{multiref|{{Cite web |date=2012-09-03 |title=Prof. Michael D. Spivak Pathway Lectures |url=http://www.math.hc.keio.ac.jp/coe/videos/spivak2004/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120903133348/http://www.math.hc.keio.ac.jp/coe/videos/spivak2004/ |archive-date=2012-09-03 }}
|{{Cite web |last=Spivak |first=Michael |date=March 2004 |title=Elementary mechanics from a mathematician's viewpoint |url=http://alpha.math.uga.edu/~shifrin/Spivak_physics.pdf |access-date=October 3, 2017 |archive-date=October 13, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171013191748/http://alpha.math.uga.edu/~shifrin/Spivak_physics.pdf |url-status=live }}}}</ref> Spivak's book, ''Physics for Mathematicians: Mechanics I'' (published December 6, 2010), contains the material that these lectures stemmed from and more.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Spivak |first=Michael |title=Physics for Mathematicians, Mechanics I |year=2010 |publisher=Publish or Perish |isbn=978-0-914098-32-4}}</ref> Spivak was also the designer of the [[MathTime]] Professional 2 fonts (which are widely used in academic publishing)<ref>{{Cite web |title=MathTime Professional 2 Fonts |url=http://pctex.com/mtpro2.html |access-date=October 15, 2013 |website=pctex.com |archive-date=October 29, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029012541/http://pctex.com/mtpro2.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and the creator of the TV series ''[[Science International]]''.<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=April 7, 1983 |title=Snippets of science from a goon |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bXxI8lC4cEwC&pg=PA36 |magazine=New Scientist |publisher=Reed Business Information |volume=98 |number=1352}}</ref>

Spivak was gay. He met his partner, Michael Kramer, in 1997.<ref name="ams-obituary" />

Spivak died on October 1, 2020.<ref name="ams-obituary">{{cite journal |title=Michael Spivak: A Memorial |journal=Notices of the American Mathematical Society |date=June–July 2024 |volume=71 |doi=10.1090/noti2956 |url=https://www.ams.org/notices/202406/rnoti-p786.pdf |access-date=2 August 2024 |last1=Buckmire |first1=Ron |last2=Beeton |first2=Barbara |last3=Bryant |first3=Robert |last4=Gouvêa |first4=Fernando Q. |last5=Phillips |first5=Anthony |last6=Sullivan |first6=Dennis |last7=Wolf |first7=Michael |issue=6 |page=1 }}</ref>

== Writing ==
His five-volume ''A Comprehensive Introduction to [[Differential geometry|Differential Geometry]]''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Spivak |first=Michael |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/ocm42962004 |title=A comprehensive introduction to differential geometry |date=1999 |publisher=Publish or Perish, Inc |isbn=978-0-914098-70-6 |edition=3rd |location=Houston, TX |oclc=ocm42962004}}</ref> is among his most influential and celebrated works. The distinctive pedagogical aim of the work, as stated in its preface, was to elucidate for graduate students the often obscure relationship between classical differential geometry—geometrically intuitive but imprecise—and its modern counterpart, replete with precise but unintuitive algebraic definitions. On several occasions, most prominently in ''Volume 2'', Spivak "translates" the classical language that [[Carl Friedrich Gauss|Gauss]] or [[Bernhard Riemann|Riemann]] would be familiar with to the abstract language that a modern differential geometer might use. The [[Leroy P. Steele Prize]] was awarded to Spivak in 1985 for his authorship of the work.

Spivak also authored several well-known undergraduate textbooks. Among them, his textbook ''Calculus''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Spivak |first=Michael |title=Calculus |date=1994 |publisher=Publish or Perish |isbn=978-0-914098-89-8 |edition=3rd |location=Houston, TX}}</ref> takes a rigorous and theoretical approach to introductory [[calculus]] and includes proofs of many theorems taken on faith in most other introductory textbooks. Spivak acknowledged in the preface of the second edition that the work is arguably an introduction to [[mathematical analysis]] rather than a calculus textbook.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bressoud |first=David |date=2013 |editor-last=Spivak |editor-first=Michael |editor2-last=Nitecki |editor2-first=Zbigniew |editor3-last=Sharhriari |editor3-first=Shahriar |editor4-last=Cates |editor4-first=Dennis M. |editor5-last=Thomson |editor5-first=Brian S. |title=Review |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.4169/amer.math.monthly.120.06.577 |journal=The American Mathematical Monthly |volume=120 |issue=6 |pages=577–580 |doi=10.4169/amer.math.monthly.120.06.577 |issn=0002-9890 |jstor=10.4169/amer.math.monthly.120.06.577 |access-date=June 14, 2022 |archive-date=June 14, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220614042640/https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.4169/amer.math.monthly.120.06.577 |url-status=live }}</ref> Another of his well-known textbooks is ''[[Calculus on Manifolds (book)|Calculus on Manifolds]],''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Spivak |first=Michael |title=Calculus on manifolds: A modern approach to classical theorems of advanced calculus |date=2018 |publisher=CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group |isbn=978-0-8053-9021-6 |series=Mathematics monograph series |location=Boca Raton London New York}}</ref> a concise (146 pages) but rigorous and modern treatment of [[multivariable calculus]] accessible to advanced undergraduates.

Spivak also wrote ''The Joy of [[TeX]]: A Gourmet Guide to Typesetting with the [[AMS-TeX]] Macro Package'' and ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to Calculus''. The book ''[[Morse theory|Morse Theory]]'' by Spivak's PhD advisor [[John Milnor]] was based on lecture notes by Spivak and Robert Wells (as mentioned on the cover page of the booklet).

=== Spivak pronouns ===
{{Main|Spivak pronouns}}
Spivak used a set of English [[gender-neutral pronouns]], ''e/em/eir'', in his book ''The Joy of TeX'', which are often referred to as Spivak pronouns.<ref>{{Cite news |last=McCurdy |first=Christen |title=Are Gender-Neutral Pronouns Actually Doomed? |url=https://psmag.com/social-justice/gender-neutral-pronouns-actually-doomed-67600 |access-date=February 26, 2014 |newspaper=Pacific Standard |archive-date=May 20, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210520155506/https://psmag.com/social-justice/gender-neutral-pronouns-actually-doomed-67600 |url-status=live }}</ref> Spivak stated that he did not originate these pronouns.<ref name=tugboat />

== Bibliography ==
* {{Cite journal |last=Spivak |first=Michael |year=1967 |title=Spaces satisfying Poincaré duality |journal=Topology |volume=6 |issue=1 |pages=77–101 |doi=10.1016/0040-9383(67)90016-X |mr=0214071 |doi-access=free}}
* ''[[Calculus on Manifolds (book)|Calculus on Manifolds: A Modern Approach to Classical Theorems of Advanced Calculus]]'', (1965, revised 1968)
* ''Calculus'', (1967, 4th ed. 2008)
* ''A Comprehensive Introduction to Differential Geometry'',<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Guillemin |first=Victor |author-link=Victor Guillemin |year=1973 |title=Review: ''A comprehensive introduction to differential geometry'', Vols. 1 & 2, by M. Spivak |url=https://www.ams.org/journals/bull/1973-79-02/S0002-9904-1973-13149-0/ |journal=Bull. Amer. Math. Soc. |volume=79 |issue=2 |pages=303–306 |doi=10.1090/s0002-9904-1973-13149-0 |doi-access=free |access-date=April 28, 2021 |archive-date=June 20, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210620140908/https://www.ams.org/journals/bull/1973-79-02/S0002-9904-1973-13149-0/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Alexander |first=Stephanie |year=1978 |title=Review: ''A comprehensive introduction to differential geometry'', Vols. 3, 4, & 5, by M. Spivak |url=https://www.ams.org/journals/bull/1978-84-01/S0002-9904-1978-14399-7/ |journal=Bull. Amer. Math. Soc. |volume=84 |issue=1 |pages=27–32 |doi=10.1090/s0002-9904-1978-14399-7 |doi-access=free |access-date=April 28, 2021 |archive-date=April 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417083208/https://www.ams.org/journals/bull/1978-84-01/S0002-9904-1978-14399-7/ |url-status=live }}</ref> (1970, revised 3rd ed. 2005)
* ''The Joy of TeX: A Gourmet Guide to Typesetting with the AMS-TeX Macro package'', (1990)
* ''A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Calculus'',<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gouvêa |first=Fernando Q. |author-link=Fernando Q. Gouvêa |date=2 February 1996 |title=Review: ''A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Calculus'' by Michael Spivak |url=http://www.maa.org/publications/maa-reviews/a-hitchhikers-guide-to-the-calculus |website=MAA Reviews |access-date=January 21, 2015 |archive-date=January 18, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150118010505/http://www.maa.org/publications/maa-reviews/a-hitchhikers-guide-to-the-calculus |url-status=live }}</ref> (1995)
*{{Cite book |last=Spivak |first=Michael |title=Physics for mathematicians—Mechanics I |publisher=Publish or Perish |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-914098-32-4 |location=Houston, TX |mr=2761185}}

== See also ==
* [[Stable normal bundle]]
* [[Spivak pronoun]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.mathpop.com/ Publish or Perish, Inc.], company owned by Spivak
* [http://www.vinc17.org/yp17/index.en.html 17 (Seventeen) and Yellow Pigs]
* [https://everything2.com/title/Michael+Spivak Michael Spivak at Everything2.com]
* {{MathGenealogy |id=15162}}
* [https://tug.org/TUGboat/tb42-3/tb132beeton-spivak.pdf Michael D. Spivak, 1940–2020], obituary in TUGboat by Barbara Beeton
* {{cite journal|title=Michael Spivak: A Memorial|journal=Notices of the American Mathematical Society|date=June 2024|volume=71|issue=6|pages=786–795|url=https://www.ams.org/notices/202406/rnoti-p786.pdf|doi=10.1090/noti2956|doi-access=free |last1=Buckmire |first1=Ron |last2=Beeton |first2=Barbara |last3=Bryant |first3=Robert |last4=Gouvêa |first4=Fernando Q. |last5=Phillips |first5=Anthony |last6=Sullivan |first6=Dennis |last7=Wolf |first7=Michael }}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spivak, Michael}}
[[Category:1940 births]]
[[Category:2020 deaths]]
[[Category:American textbook writers]]
[[Category:American male non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:20th-century American mathematicians]]
[[Category:Differential geometers]]
[[Category:American mathematical analysts]]
[[Category:Princeton University alumni]]
[[Category:Scientists from Queens, New York]]
[[Category:Mathematicians from New York (state)]]
[[Category:American topologists]]
[[Category:Harvard University alumni]]
[[Category:LGBTQ mathematicians]]