Mathematics Education at West Point: The First Hundred Years

Author(s):

V. Frederick Rickey and Amy Shell-Gellasch

Mathematical Text Books In Use at USMA in the Nineteenth Century

Dates represent earliest documented use.

Algebra:

1802	Hutton (Charles), Course of Mathematics, 1800 [S]
1818	Simson (Robert), Elements of Conic Sections, 1792, Note: this is the first mention of Simson in that Hutton replaces Simson for conic sections, [S]
1823	Lacroix (S. F.), Elements D'Algebra, 1820, (Hutton discontinued) [C, S]
1825	Lacroix, Elements of Algebra, 1825, (English translation by J. Farrar) [BV-25, C]
1831	Bourdon (M.), Elements of Algebra, 1831, (English translation by Lient. E. Ross) [C, S]
1837	Davies (Charles), Elements of Algebra..., 1836 (based on Ross' translation of Bourdon) [S]
1881	Davies' Bourdon, 1877 [S]
1900	Smith (Charles), A Treatise on Algebra, 1893 [C]

Geometry and Analytic Geometry:

1802	Hutton, Course of Mathematics, 1800 [S]
1821	Biot ( J. B.), Essai de Geometrie Analytique, 1826, [S]
1823	Legendre (A. M.), Elements of Geometry and Trigonometry, English translation by Farrar, 1825 [S]
1837	Davies, Elements of Descriptive Geometry, translation of Legendre, 1826, [S]
1852	Church, Elements of Analytic Geometry, 1851, [S]
1864	Church, Elements of Descriptive Geometry, 1870, [S]
1896	Davies, translation of Van Amringe, 1885, note-both Davies and Church texts are used. [S]

Trigonometry (plane & spherical, including conic sections):

1802	Hutton, Course of Mathematics, 1800 [S]
1821	Simson, [BV-21] Gregory, [BV-21]
1824	Lacroix, (Farrar translation), 1822 [BV-24, S]
1825	Biot [S]
1832	Legendre, Elements of Geometry and Trigonometry, (Farrar 1825 or Brewster 1828 translation) [S]
1839	Davies, (translation of Legendre), 1822 [S]
1881	Church, Plane and Spherical Trigonometry, 1869 [S]
1896	Ludlow (Henry), Elements of Trigonometry, 1888 [S]

Fluxions / Calculus:

1821	Lacroix, Traite Elementaire de Calcul Differentiel et de Calcul Integral, 1820 [BV-25]
1824	Hutton, [BV-24, S]
1825	Boucharlat (Jean L.), Elemens de calcul differentiel it de calcul integral, 1826, (in French) [BV-25]
1839	Davies, Elements of the Differential and Integral Calculus, 1839, [C, S]
1843	Church (Albert E.), Elements of Differential and Integral Calculus, 1842, (replaces Davies), [C, S]
1878	Boucharlat still used in lower sections [S]
1887	Bass (Edgar), Introduction to Calculus, 1887, (replaces first part of Church), [S]
1889	Bass, Differential Calculus I, (pamphlet), (replaces second part of Church) [S]
1893	Bass, Differential Calculus II, (pamphlet), (replaces last part of Church) [S]
1896	Bass, Differential Calculus, [S]

Descriptive Geometry, Perspective, Shades, and Shadows:

1821	Crozet (Claudius), A Treatise on Descriptive Geometry, 1821, [S]
1832	Davies, Elements of Descriptive Geometry, 1826, [C, S]
1852	Davies, A Treatise on Shades and Shadows and Linear Perspecitve, 1851, [S]
1864	Church, Elements of Descriptive Geometry, (replaces Davies in 1865), [S]

Surveying:

1832	Davies, Elements of Surveying, 1830, [S]

Sources: S Report of the Superintendent, 1896

BV-## Board of Visitors report for the year 18##

C Centennial Volume[1]

[1] Centennial Volume, USMA Board of Visitors, USMAA, 1900.

Editor's note: This article was published in May of 2008.

V. Frederick Rickey and Amy Shell-Gellasch, "Mathematics Education at West Point: The First Hundred Years - Appendix: USMA Math Texts Through 1900," Convergence (July 2010)

Convergence

Tags:

History of Mathematics