History of Mathematics in America before 1900

The book is organized historically, covering the uses of mathematics, the development of mathematics instruction and research, and discussion of the important names in mathematics in America from the earliest settlement to the year 1900. The book is divided into four chapters, each chapter dealing with a particular time period in chronological order. The authors closely relate the development of mathematics in this country to the development of education and instruction of math, with particular emphasis on innovators in the field. Of special interest are the details concerning the uses of math in the early days and how new knowledge developed, often to meet a practical need.

In the sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries the occupations of the earliest settlers tended to correspond with the need for skill in handling numbers. Most workers were farmers, artisans, or tradespeople. In these vocations the primary need was the ability to add and subtract numbers, rarely to multiply or divide (Smith & Ginsberg 1-2). Much trade was in the form of barter, and fathers passed to their sons simple arithmetic skills.

-Mathematics appealed to the sea-faring men and to the clergy.

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general, salaries in the mid1800's ranged from $600 to $1500 per year. Mathematics was usually combined with physics and astronomy (Smith & Ginsburg 68-69). European influences were felt in the forms of translations of French textbooks, British work in calculus and conics, and European guest lecturers. The learned societies continued to provide a forum for scientific discussion, and their periodicals disseminated information regarding new scientific thought. Prominent names included Robert Adrain, Nathanial Bowditch, William B. Rogers, Alexander Dallas Bache and Ferdinand Rudolph Hassler. These scholars furthered mathematical study in the areas of geodesy, weights and measures standards, and the mathematics of the pendulum (Smith & Ginsburg 65-101). The final chapter of A History of Mathematics in America before 1900 discusses the time period of 1875 to 1900. During the latter part of the nineteenth century, mathematics studies began to flourish. Older ways of teaching were reformed and native talent began to appear. As before, the societies and their publications were the primary form of disseminating new mathematical thought. James Joseph Sylvester, a mathematics visionary, taught at Johns Hopkins University and took c
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Approximate Word count = 1463
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)

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