Mr Hopkins' Men (eBook)

Cambridge Reform and British Mathematics in the 19th Century

A.D.D. Craik (Autor)

eBook Download: PDF

2008 | 2007
XIV, 410 Seiten
Springer London (Verlag)
978-1-84628-791-6 (ISBN)

Infos

A few years ago, in the Wren Library of Trinity College, Cambridge, I came across a remarkable but then little-known album of pencil and watercolour portraits. The artist of most (perhaps all) was Thomas Charles Wageman. Created during 1829-1852, these portraits are of pupils of the famous mat- matical tutor William Hopkins. Though I knew much about several of the subjects, the names of others were then unknown to me. I was prompted to discover more about them all, and gradually this interest evolved into the present book. The project has expanded naturally to describe the Cambridge educational milieu of the time, the work of William Hopkins, and the later achievements of his pupils and their contemporaries. As I have taught applied mathematics in a British university for forty years, during a time of rapid change, the struggles to implement and to resist reform in mid-nineteenth-century Cambridge struck a chord of recognition. So, too, did debates about academic standards of honours degrees. And my own experiences, as a graduate of a Scottish university who proceeded to C- bridge for postgraduate work, gave me a particular interest in those Scots and Irish students who did much the same more than a hundred years earlier. As a mathematician, I sometimes felt frustrated at having to suppress virtually all of the ? ne mathematics associated with this period: but to have included such technical material would have made this a very different book.

ADD Craik is a well-respected mathematician and an authority on 19th century mathematics. He has contributed a number of well-regarded articles to journals such as 'Historia Mathematica' and 'Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London'.

Autor

ADD Craik is a well-respected mathematician and an authority on 19th century mathematics. He has contributed a number of well-regarded articles to journals such as "Historia Mathematicaâ and "Notes and Records of the Royal Society of Londonâ.

Inhalt

Preface 7
Contents 9
List of Illustrations 13
Part I Educating the Elite 16
1. Introducing Hopkins and His Wranglers 17
2. The Student Experience, 1820–1860 23
Main Contemporary Sources 23
The Struggles of Solomon Atkinson 24
J.M.F. Wright’s “Alma Mater” 29
Reminiscences of John Venn, Charles Bristed and Walter Besant 32
Joseph Romilly’s Diaries 37
3. Cambridge University in Context 39
Parliament and the People 39
Parliament, the Church and the Universities 41
Promoting Education and Science 47
The Town and University of Cambridge 53
College Life 57
Towards a Modern University 63
4. Teaching at Cambridge 65
Fellows, Private Tutors and Professors 65
Reforms of Mathematics in the Early Nineteenth Century 73
Peacock’s “Statutes” and Whewell’s “ Liberal Education” 80
The 1850–1852 Royal Commission and After 91
Commission Evidence on Mathematics 98
The Tripos and Smith’s Prize Examinations 104
5. William Hopkins 113
Biography 113
Hopkins as Private Tutor 121
Hopkins on Cambridge Education 128
Hopkins and Science 132
6. Hopkins’ Top Wranglers, 1829–1854 145
Portraits of Wranglers: Album and Artist 145
General View of the Wranglers 147
Brief Biographies 151
Part II Careers of the Wranglers 161
7. The Cambridge Stamp 163
The Bene.ts of Becoming a High Wrangler 163
Lawyers, Politicians and Educators 166
The Anglican Church at Home and Abroad 171
8. Wranglers at Home: Four Biographies 177
George Green 177
John Couch Adams 187
George Gabriel Stokes 201
Harvey Goodwin 215
9. Universities and Colleges 227
The English Universities and Colleges 227
The Scottish Universities 244
Ireland and Overseas 250
10. Wranglers Abroad: Churchmen and Educators in the Colonies 255
Australia: C. Perry, J.W. Stephen, W.P. Wilson, A. Barry, M. B. Pell, W. Scott, J. Cockle 255
India: H. Cotterill, J.H. Pratt, C.B. Clarke, W. A. Porter, J. B. Phear 267
The African Bishops: J.W. Colenso, C. F. Mackenzie, H. Cotterill 284
11. The Growth of a Research Community 301
Institutions and Journals 301
Scottish and Irish Contributions 307
12. Achievements in the Mathematical Sciences 315
The Mathematical Sciences Before 1830 315
The Mathematical Sciences, 1830–1880 323
13. Postscript 357
Appendix 369
Appendix A 369
Appendix B 370
References 373
INDICES 397
Index of Personal Names 399
General Index 411

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 21.3.2008
• Zusatzinfo: XIV, 410 p. 78 illus., 48 illus. in color.
• Verlagsort: London
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte
• Themenwelt: Mathematik / Informatik ► Mathematik ► Allgemeines / Lexika
• Themenwelt: Mathematik / Informatik ► Mathematik ► Geschichte der Mathematik
• Themenwelt: Technik
• Schlagworte: Applied mathematics • Cambridge University • Education • History of Mathematics • Mathematics • Physical Sciences
• ISBN-10: 1-84628-791-X / 184628791X
• ISBN-13: 978-1-84628-791-6 / 9781846287916