The Emergence of the American Mathematical Research Community, 1876-1900

by Karen Hunger Parshall, David E. Rowe

1994 · American Mathematical Soc.

This volume traces the transformation of the United States from a mathematical backwater to a major presence during the quarter-century from 1876 to 1900. Presenting a detailed study of the major figures involved in this transformation, it focuses on the three most influential individuals - the British algebraist James Joseph Sylvester, the German standard-bearer Felix Klein, and the American mathematician Eliakim Hastings Moore - and on the principal institutions with which they were associated - the Johns Hopkins University, Gottingen University, and the University of Chicago. This book further analyzes the research traditions these men and their institutions represented, the impact they had on the second generation of American mathematical researchers, and the role of the American Mathematical Society in these developments.This is the first work ever written on the history of American mathematics during this period and one of the few books that examines the historical development of American mathematics from a wide perspective. By placing the development of American mathematics within the context of broader external factors affecting historical events, the authors show how the character of American research was decisively affected by the surrounding scientific, educational, and social contexts of the period. Aimed at a general mathematical audience and at historians of science, this book contains an abundance of unpublished archival material, numerous rare photographs, and an extensive bibliography.

The New Era in American Mathematics, 1920–1950

by Karen Hunger Parshall

2022 · Princeton University Press

A meticulously researched history on the development of American mathematics in the three decades following World War I As the Roaring Twenties lurched into the Great Depression, to be followed by the scourge of Nazi Germany and World War II, American mathematicians pursued their research, positioned themselves collectively within American science, and rose to global mathematical hegemony. How did they do it? The New Era in American Mathematics, 1920–1950 explores the institutional, financial, social, and political forces that shaped and supported this community in the first half of the twentieth century. In doing so, Karen Hunger Parshall debunks the widely held view that American mathematics only thrived after European émigrés fled to the shores of the United States. Drawing from extensive archival and primary-source research, Parshall uncovers the key players in American mathematics who worked together to effect change and she looks at their research output over the course of three decades. She highlights the educational, professional, philanthropic, and governmental entities that bolstered progress. And she uncovers the strategies implemented by American mathematicians in their quest for the advancement of knowledge. Throughout, she considers how geopolitical circumstances shifted the course of the discipline. Examining how the American mathematical community asserted itself on the international stage, The New Era in American Mathematics, 1920–1950 shows the way one nation became the focal point for the field.