Mathematical Treasure: Joab Goldsmith Cooper’s The Scholar’s Assistant

Joab Goldsmith Cooper (1777–1832) was a 19th-century American textbook writer. He was a minister in the Episcopal Church, pastoring churches in New York and Massachusetts, and many of his works concerned religious themes and the Greek and Latin classics. He did, however, write two books intended for mathematics instruction. The most popular of these was: The Scholar's Assistant, or, A plain, comprehensive, and practical system of arithmetic : to which is prefixed an introduction, containing a practical illustration of the primary rules, and of the tables of money, weights, and measures : designed for the use of schools in the United States,1830.

Similar to other arithmetic texts of this time, the Scholar’s Assistant was comprehensive. It offered instruction on the basic operations and their applications in various fields of commercial and business endeavors.

Some sample problems:

A full digitization of its copy is available from Wellcome Library.

Index to Mathematical Treasures