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Lawrence John Crane, who died in March 2021, aged 89, was one of the leading applied mathematicians of his day in Ireland. His lifelong enthusiasm for the subject was appreciated by his students and colleagues in Trinity College, where he lectured for over 40 years.
Born on July 11th, 1931 in Neilston, near Glasgow, the youngest of four, he graduated from Glasgow University in 1954 with a BSc in mathematics and natural philosophy. He came to Dublin for the first time in 1954-55 as a scholar at the Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies. From 1957-61 he lectured in Strathclyde and completed his PhD on Properties of Jets and Wakes. He was awarded a DSc in 1976 and the William Jack Prize in 1977 for his research, both from Glasgow University .
He moved to Dublin in 1961 and joined the TCD school of mathematics, where he worked until his retirement in 2001. Students – especially in engineering – appreciated his ability to make complex material tractable. He applied his mathematics skills to solve real-world problems in engineering, physics and pharmacy. In his early years in Trinity he conducted USAF-sponsored research with Percy McCormack on the break-up of liquid jets.
He started a successful Erasmus programme in Trinity in the 1980s in conjunction with TU Darmstadt, Germany where he was a visiting professor in 1985.
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The quality and quantity of his research never flagged and he continued to contribute to advances in the field of fluid dynamics. He published his last paper in 2017 and made notable advances in research up to a few weeks before his death.
He was a master at transforming a complex problem to the most simple, elegant form, while preserving its essential features. His favourite maxim “the best is the enemy of the good” was shown by his ability to find a close approximation to almost any problem, in his head. Notably, he discovered one of the few exact solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations. His published works are highly respected by his peers.
He enjoyed contributing to international mathematics conferences. He was an avid reader on a wide range of topics and all his life he was a regular churchgoer with deeply held beliefs. He was very interested in theology and scripture and his faith gave him solace in his final months.
He was generous with his time and always willing to help other people, tutoring disadvantaged students in mathematics and statistics for the Ballymun JUST programme. He connected easily with people from all walks of life. His great enthusiasm for life made him an eternal optimist. He was predeceased by his wife Mary and is survived by his children Stephen, Martin and Alison and his four grandchildren.