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The first record I found of this photograph is in Oxford Figures: Eight Centuries of the Mathematical Sciences. Professor Michael Atiyah shares some recollections of J.H.C. Whitehead and his pigs:

This quote might explain why:

• Henry Whitehead, whose school of topology attracted scholars from around the world, was a keen pig farmer: he claimed to derive mathematical inspiration by scratching his pigs’ backs for an hour every afternoon.
_{source: Oxford Mathematical Institute Spring Newsletter}

The first record I found of this photograph is in Oxford Figures: Eight Centuries of the Mathematical Sciences. Professor Michael Atiyah shares some recollections of J.H.C. Whitehead and his pigs:

_{See also an interview with Atiyah at Oxford Mathematics Interviews. (Whitehead and pigs enter at the two-minute mark.)}

This might explain why Whitehead liked pigs:

• Henry Whitehead, whose school of topology attracted scholars from around the world, was a keen pig farmer: he claimed to derive mathematical inspiration by scratching his pigs’ backs for an hour every afternoon.
_{source: Oxford Mathematical Institute Spring Newsletter}

• "J. H. C. Whitehead was a rather interesting character. He raised pigs."
_{source: Algebraic Topology (page 36)}

• Professor Michael Atiyah shares some personal recollections on Whitehead and his pigs at Oxford Mathematics Interviews. At the 2 minute mark Atiyah mentions the photograph of Whitehead with a pig: "You wouldn't have thought of him as a mathematician".

• Henry Whitehead, whose school of topology attracted scholars from around the world, was a keen pig farmer: he claimed to derive mathematical inspiration by scratching his pigs’ backs for an hour every afternoon.
_{source: Oxford Mathematical Institute Spring Newsletter}

The first record I found of this photograph is in Oxford Figures: Eight Centuries of the Mathematical Sciences. Professor Michael Atiyah shares some recollections of J.H.C. Whitehead and his pigs:

This quote might explain why:

• Henry Whitehead, whose school of topology attracted scholars from around the world, was a keen pig farmer: he claimed to derive mathematical inspiration by scratching his pigs’ backs for an hour every afternoon.
_{source: Oxford Mathematical Institute Spring Newsletter}

"J. H. C. Whitehead was a rather interesting character. He raised pigs."
_{source: Algebraic Topology (page 36)}

Professor Michael Atiyah shares some personal recollections on Whitehead and his pigs at Oxford Mathematics Interviews. At the 2 minute mark Atiyah mentions the photograph of Whitehead with a pig: "You wouldn't have thought of him as a mathematician".

Another important influence at Oxford was Waynflete professor Henry Whitehead, whose school of topology attracted scholars from around the world; a keen pig farmer, he claimed to derive mathematical inspiration by scratching his pigs’ backs for an hour every afternoon.
_{source: Oxford Mathematical Institute Spring Newsletter}

• "J. H. C. Whitehead was a rather interesting character. He raised pigs."
_{source: Algebraic Topology (page 36)}

• Professor Michael Atiyah shares some personal recollections on Whitehead and his pigs at Oxford Mathematics Interviews. At the 2 minute mark Atiyah mentions the photograph of Whitehead with a pig: "You wouldn't have thought of him as a mathematician".

• Henry Whitehead, whose school of topology attracted scholars from around the world, was a keen pig farmer: he claimed to derive mathematical inspiration by scratching his pigs’ backs for an hour every afternoon.
_{source: Oxford Mathematical Institute Spring Newsletter}