A Whiz With Derivatives Dies at 83

George F. Carrier, a Harvard math professor for nearly four decades who pioneered techniques for solving differential equations, died March 8 at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. He was 83.

Carrier, who was Coolidge professor of applied mathematics emeritus, had been fighting esophagus cancer since mid-December of last year.

Over the years, Carrier worked on many projects, including the design of rocket nozzles and the behavior of large ocean waves called tsunamis. In his Harvard career, Carrier was best known for solving differential and integral equations, though he also studied fluid and solid mechanics, geophysics and oceanography.

In the 1970s, he founded the still-popular Harvard course Applied Math 21, which focuses on physics-related math.

Venkatech Narayanamurti, dean of the Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences (DEAS), said Carrier was one of the world’s “most distinguished mathematicians.”

Carrier, who was briefly dean of Harvard’s engineering division, made up part of its “golden age,” wrote Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis ’68 in an e-mail.

Lewis took a course from Carrier as an undergraduate and observed his mathematical mind in person.

“He had incredible mathematical intuition,” Lewis said. “He dealt with the mathematical structures and formulas needed to solve problems in fluid mechanics, astronomy, and other fields the way artists use paint and clay.”

A native of Millinocket, Maine, Carrier received his doctorate in engineering from Cornell University in 1944 and began teaching at Brown University starting in 1947.

He came to Harvard as a McKay professor of mechanical engineering in 1952 and eventually established residency in Wayland, Mass., where he long cultivated an elaborate garden.

Carrier was also a member of both the National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Engineering, an honor considered rare among scientists. He also received the Presidential Medal of Science in 1990 for his work in mathematical modeling.

“He was a magician on how to attack differenial equations,” said McKay Professor of Engineering Frederick H. Abernathy. “He wrote textbooks that most people find too hard.”

Abernathy said that mathematics graduate students would avoid asking Carrier questions on differential equations because he might solve in one afternoon a problem for which they were hoping to devote a thesis.

Abernathy recalled that, in 1970, then-University President Derek C. Bok wanted to hold a black-tie banquet at the Faculty Club just to see Carrier wearing a tie and jacket.

“He must have had an amazing metabolism, always only wearing a shirt with rolled-up sleeves and no jacket, even in winter,” Abernathy said.

He was a “down-to-earth, fun-loving practical joker,” Abernathy said.

Carrier is survived by his wife, Mary, and three sons.