This is the first truly comprehensive and thorough history of the development of mathematics and a mathematical community in the United States and Canada. This first volume of the multi-volume work takes the reader from the European encounters with North America in the fifteenth century up to the emergence of a research community the United States in the last quarter of the nineteenth. In the story of the colonial period, particular emphasis is given to several prominent colonial figures-Jefferson, Franklin, and Rittenhouse-and four important early colleges-Harvard, Quebec, William & Mary, and Yale. During the first three-quarters of the nineteenth century, mathematics in North America was largely the occupation of scattered individual pioneers: Bowditch, Farrar, Adrain, B. Peirce. This period is given a fuller treatment here than previously in the literature, including the creation of the first PhD programs and attempts to form organizations and found journals. With the founding of Johns Hopkins in 1876 the American mathematical research community was finally, and firmly, founded. The programs at Hopkins, Chicago, and Clark are detailed as are the influence of major European mathematicians including especially Klein, Hilbert, and Sylvester. Klein's visit to the US and his Evanston Colloquium are extensively detailed. The founding of the American Mathematical Society is thoroughly discussed. David Zitarelli was emeritus Professor of Mathematics at Temple University. A decorated and acclaimed teacher, scholar, and expositor, he was one of the world's leading experts on the development of American mathematics. Author or co-author of over a dozen books, this was his magnum opus-sure to become the leading reference on the topic and essential reading, not just for historians. In clear and compelling prose Zitarelli spins a tale accessible to experts, generalists, and anyone interested in the history of science in North America.
David E. Zitarelli, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA.
Chapters Introduction Part I. Colonial Era and Period of Confederation, 1492-1800 Beginnings Independence Transition 1776: The patriot Part II. New republic, 1800-1876 The age of Bowditch The age of Peirce Transition 1876: Story vs. Klein Part III. Research community, 1876-1900 Sylvester, Klein, AMS Chicago and Clark The 1890s Transition 1900: Hilbert's American colony
Students and others who pick up this volume will find so many life stories that surely they will find one to whom they can relate. Indeed, Zitarelli strongly believed in the value of history of mathematics for humanizing mathematics. His genuine concern for other people carried over into how he treated students and colleagues, and that trait is also present in this book in his conversational, storytelling-oriented writing style.-- Amy Ackerberg-Hastings (Iowa State University), MAA Reviews Squeezing 500 years of development into a book of 430 pages leads one to guess that Zitarelli's book may serve as the foundation for many future works describing parts of the development and/or the individuals involved in much more detail and with many more detailed descriptions of the mathematics invented along the way. The book under review gives an impressing description of the many persons and institutions having been instrumental in the development of mathematical teaching and research in the US and in Canada. It is informative, very readable, and contains a wealth of information.-- Thomas Sonar (Braunschweig), zbMATHOpen The hundreds (yes, hundreds) of biographical sketches of mathematicians that are the bedrock of the book are cleverly and usefully organized into topics within each chapter. All of them sparkle with Zitarelli's diligent and dogged research.-- Scott Guthery, MAA Reviews
