Monday 23 August 2010

The Mathematical Journals, They Are A Changing


Today I was reading some notes from a Mathematics Teacher magazine that is almost exactly one-hundred years old, June 1910 (thanks to Dave Renfro for the copies). In a regular monthly section, New Books, I was surprised at the materials suggested for the mathematics teacher.
Several were totally to be expected. "The Principles of Education" by W. C. Rudiger seemed totally appropriate, as did a summary of David E Smith's "Rara Arithmetica", which has become a classic for Math Education historians. "Attention and Interest", by Felix Arnold was a report on the psychology of education with the novel (at least in modern terms) idea that, "the reader is left free to draw his own conclusions and theories from the data given."
But alongside this were a couple of "outliers" in present-day terms. The review of "The Ethics of Jesus" by Henry C. King ended with the statement, "It is interesting reading and an invaluable book for teachers." Also in the list of books reviewed, "Manual of Gardening" by L. H. Bailey, and "How to Keep Hens for Profit" by C. S. Valentine. Just what the starving math teacher might need to keep the wolf from the door.

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