OHN VENN (1834–1923)
OHN VENN (1834–1923) John Venn was born into a London suburban family noted for its philanthropy.
He attended London schools and got his mathematics degree from Caius College, Cambridge, in 1857. He was
elected a fellow of this college and held his fellowship there until his death. He took holy orders in 1859 and,
after a brief stint of religious work, returned to Cambridge, where he developed programs in the moral sciences.
Besides his mathematical work, Venn had an interest in history and wrote extensively about his college and
family.
Venn’s book Symbolic Logic clarifies ideas originally presented by Boole. In this book, Venn presents a
systematic development of a method that uses geometric figures, known now as Venn diagrams. Today these
diagrams are primarily used to analyze logical arguments and to illustrate relationships between sets. In addition
to his work on symbolic logic, Venn made contributions to probability theory described in his widely used textbook on that subject.
He attended London schools and got his mathematics degree from Caius College, Cambridge, in 1857. He was
elected a fellow of this college and held his fellowship there until his death. He took holy orders in 1859 and,
after a brief stint of religious work, returned to Cambridge, where he developed programs in the moral sciences.
Besides his mathematical work, Venn had an interest in history and wrote extensively about his college and
family.
Venn’s book Symbolic Logic clarifies ideas originally presented by Boole. In this book, Venn presents a
systematic development of a method that uses geometric figures, known now as Venn diagrams. Today these
diagrams are primarily used to analyze logical arguments and to illustrate relationships between sets. In addition
to his work on symbolic logic, Venn made contributions to probability theory described in his widely used textbook on that subject.
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