Full Description
The focus of this book is the fundamental influence of the cyphering tradition on mathematics education in North American colleges, schools, and apprenticeship training classes between 1607 and 1861. It is the first book on the history of North American mathematics education to be written from that perspective. The principal data source is a set of 207 handwritten cyphering books that have never previously been subjected to careful historical analysis.
Contents
Preface.- Table of Contents.- List of Tables.- List of Figures.- Abstract.- Foreword (by Jeremy Kilpatrick).- 1. The Historical Challenge.- 2. Development of a Tradition.- 3. Translating the Cyphering-Book Tradition to North America.- 4. Formulating the Research Questions.- 5. The Principal Data Set.- 6. Ending a 600-Year Tradition: The Demise of the Cypering-Book Approach.- 7. Conclusions, and some Final Comments.- References.- Appendices.
