Mathematical Treasure: Muller's Elements of Mathematics

Author(s):

Frank J. Swetz (The Pennsylvania State University)

John Müller (1699-1784) was a German engineer and mathematician who made his career in England. An expert on fortifications, he became master of the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich in 1741 and was responsible for strengthening the curriculum. He wrote several books for this purpose. His two-volume Elements of Mathematics remained a basic text at the Academy for many years. Images shown here are from the third edition of 1765. The full work can be viewed in the HathiTrust Digital Library.

Title page of Elements of Mathematics by John Muller, 1765

The table of “Contents” reveals the scope of the text.

First page of table of contents for Elements of Mathematics by John Muller, 1765

Second page of table of contents for Elements of Mathematics by John Muller, 1765

The first page of the “Introduction” contains a discussion of basic operations and symbols:

First page of Introduction for Elements of Mathematics by John Muller, 1765

Müller's first book was A Mathematical Treatise Containing a System of Conic-Sections, with the Doctrine of Fluxions and Fluents, published in 1736. It also is available for viewing in the HathiTrust Digital Library.

Index to Mathematical Treasures

Frank J. Swetz (The Pennsylvania State University), "Mathematical Treasure: Muller's Elements of Mathematics," Convergence (February 2018)

Convergence

Tags:

Algebra