Editing Ralph Abraham (mathematician) (section)

== Life and work ==
Abraham earned his [[Bachelor of Engineering|BSE]] (1956), [[Master of Science|MS]] (1958), and [[PhD]] (1960) from the [[University of Michigan]]. His PhD thesis, titled ''Discontinuities in General Relativity'', was written under the direction of Nathaniel Coburn.<ref>{{MathGenealogy |id=5051}}</ref> Prior to joining UCSC, he held positions at the [[University of California, Berkeley]] (research lecturer in mathematics; 1960&ndash;1962), [[Columbia University]] (postdoctoral fellow and assistant professor of mathematics; 1962&ndash;1964) and [[Princeton University]] (assistant professor of mathematics; 1964&ndash;1968). He has also held visiting positions in [[Amsterdam]], [[Paris]], [[Warwick]], [[Barcelona]], [[Basel]], and [[Florence]].

He founded the Visual Math Institute at UCSC<ref>{{cite news |last=Baine |first=Wallace |date=July 15, 2016 |title=Santa Cruz County Stories: UCSC's Ralph Abraham keeps alive the memories of Santa Cruz's hip golden era in 1975 |newspaper=Santa Cruz Sentinel |url=https://www.santacruzsentinel.com/2016/07/15/santa-cruz-county-stories-ucscs-ralph-abraham-keeps-alive-the-memories-of-santa-cruzs-hip-golden-era/ |access-date=2024-06-19}}</ref> in 1975; at that time, it was called the "Visual Mathematics Project".{{cn|date=June 2024}} He was editor of ''World Futures'' and for the ''International Journal of Bifurcations and Chaos''. Abraham was a member of cultural historian [[William Irwin Thompson]]'s [[Lindisfarne Association]].{{cn|date=June 2024}}

Abraham has been involved in the development of [[dynamical systems theory]] since the 1960s and 1970s. He has been a consultant on [[chaos theory]] and its applications in numerous fields, such as medical physiology, ecology, mathematical economics, and psychotherapy.<ref>[http://www.isss.org/conferences/sonoma2006/2006_ISSS_50thAnnualMeeting_Sonoma_Program-Body-Acrobat6-150dpi.pdf Complexity, Democracy and Sustainability] The 50th Anniversary Meeting of The International Society for the Systems Sciences. [[Sonoma State University]], 2006. Retrieved 7 June 2008.</ref>

Another interest of Abraham's concerns alternative ways of expressing mathematics, for example visually or aurally. He has staged performances in which mathematics, visual arts and [[music]] are combined into one presentation. Abraham developed an interest in "Hip" activities in Santa Cruz in the 1960s and had a website gathering information on the topic.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ralph-abraham.org/1960s/|title=Santa Cruz 1960s|website=www.ralph-abraham.org}}</ref> He credited his use of the [[psychedelic drug]] [[Dimethyltryptamine|DMT]] with "swerv[ing his] career toward a search for the connections between mathematics and the experience of the Logos".<ref name="SheldrakeMcKenna2013">{{cite book|last1=Sheldrake|first1=Rupert|last2=McKenna|first2=Terence|last3=Abraham|first3=Ralph|title=The Evolutionary Mind: Conversations on Science, Imagination & Spirit|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iIPHtyQHpTIC&pg=PT63|access-date=12 April 2014|date=2013-08-20|publisher=Monkfish Book Publishing|isbn=9781939681102|pages=63–}}</ref>

Abraham died at his home in Santa Cruz County, at the age of 88.<ref>{{cite news |last=Baine |first=Wallace |date=October 6, 2024 |title=From math to mushrooms, intellectual explorer Ralph Abraham was always looking for the Big Picture |newspaper=Lookout Santa Cruz |url=https://lookout.co/ralph-abraham-chaos-theory-counterculture-uc-santa-cruz-from-math-to-mushrooms-intellectual-explorer-was-always-looking-for-the-big-picture/ |access-date=2024-10-06}}</ref>