prof louis melville milne-thomson cbe frse ras (1 may 1891 – 21 august 1974) was an english applied mathematician who wrote several classic textbooks on applied mathematics, including "the calculus of finite differences", "theoretical hydrodynamics", and "theoretical aerodynamics". he is also known for developing several mathematical tables such as jacobian elliptic function tables. the milne-thomson circle theorem and the milne-thomson method for finding a holomorphic function are named after him. milne-thomson was made a commander of the order of the british empire (cbe) in 1952.