Jerrold E. Marsden
Canadian-American mathematician
Jerrold Eldon Marsden (August 17, 1942 – September 21, 2010) was a Canadian mathematician. He was the Carl F. Braun professor of engineering, control and dynamical systems at the California Institute of Technology. Marsden is listed as an ISI highly cited researcher.
Career
Marsden earned his B.Sc. in mathematics at the University of Toronto and his Ph.D. in mathematical physics at Princeton University in 1968 under Arthur S. Wightman. Thereafter, he worked at various universities and research institutes in the US, Canada, the United Kingdom, France and Germany. He was one of the founders of the Fields Institute in Toronto, Canada, and directed it until 1994. At the California Institute of Technology he was the Carl F. Braun professor of engineering, control and dynamical systems.
Marsden, together with Alan Weinstein, was one of the world leading authorities in mathematical and theoretical classical mechanics. He has laid much of the foundation for symplectic topology.
The public source identifies “Jerrold E. Marsden” as canadian-American mathematician. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Jerrold, Marsden and Canadian-American.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Jerrold E. Marsden”, the useful work is to connect “canadian-American mathematician” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 29, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q574589. VIAF identifies the subject as 108169626. The Library of Congress control number is n79077360. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1942, 2010, 1968 and 1994.
Public reputation and documentary evidence do not always develop together; absence from a summary is not evidence of historical absence. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.
- Establishing names and roles
- Building a first chronology
- Locating cited institutions
Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Jerrold E. Marsden”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Jerrold E. Marsden primary sources, Jerrold E. Marsden archive and Jerrold research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Jerrold E. Marsden”?
- Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
- How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Jerrold E. Marsden” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.