John Venn

Francis Phimphivong
MGF1106
8/26/19
John Venn was born August 4th, 1834 in England. Venn came from a church evangelical
background and proceeded to study at Cambridge University later on in his life.
(Combinatorics.org) The source states that he had a long history with the university. Venn
became a Fellow of the college and published books like Symbolic Logic & The Principles of
Empirical Logic during the 1880s. These books contributed to the field of set theory through the
introduction of the Venn diagram that we know today. (Venn)

Venn diagrams have been an incredibly huge contribution to the field of set theory.
We’ve been using Venn diagrams starting in elementary school through our professional career.
Students not only use Venn diagrams in mathematics but also in science as well. Venn diagrams
can be used to compare different concepts within the diagram but also view what’s similar
within those concepts to each other. We are introduced to the simple Venn diagram, which
contains two curves, which explains the differences between the two concepts in each curve.
The curves are then intersected in the middle to emphasize the common point.

In conclusion, John Venn has been a huge contribution to set theory as we use the Venn
diagram to compare and contrast theory with his work. The Venn diagram is very versatile to all
of the core educational studies and we will continue to use his work in the field of liberal arts.

Works Cited
Combinatorics.org. "Venn Diagram Survey." March 2001. Combinatorics.
Venn, John. Symbolic Logic. London: Macmillan and Co. , 1881.