Review

Author(s): Lao G. Simons

Review by: Lao G. Simons
Source: The American Mathematical Monthly, Vol. 39, No. 7 (Aug. - Sep., 1932), pp. 422-423
Published by: Mathematical Association of America
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2300393
Accessed: 16-11-2015 08:56 UTC

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/
info/about/policies/terms.jsp

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content
in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship.
For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Mathematical Association of America is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The American
Mathematical Monthly.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 131.94.16.10 on Mon, 16 Nov 2015 08:56:11 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
422 RECENT PUBLICATIONS [Aug.-Sept.,

herheard her say that she did not stand therealone but that the spiritof Lewis
Carroll accompanied her and that she received the honorin his stead.
LAO G. SIMONS

Outlineof theHistoryof Mathematics.By Raymond Clare Archibald. The So-

ciety forthe Promotionof EngineeringEducation. No. 18. February,-1932.
53 pages $.30.
This work appears as "Bulletin Number 18 of the Summer School for En-
gineeringTeachers," an indicationof the end in view in its preparation.
The "Outline" is farfromcorrespondingto the usual meaningof that term.
It is that, to be sure, but it is far more. It is an interestingaccount of the
historyof mathematicswith emphasis on only the importantpersons and con-
tributionsto the field. Here and there less importantitems are introducedto
enliven the lecturebut these always flownaturallyfromthe matterwhich they
follow. We have, for example, the connection of Gauss with Dase: (p. 44)
"Gauss was a notable instance of a youthfularithmeticalprodigy who later
achieved greatnessin mathematics.The most extraordinarymental calculating
prodigywho ever lived was Zacharias Dase of Hamburg who died in 1861, aged
37. He multipliedtwo 8-figurenumbersin 54 seconds, two 20-figurenumbersin
6 minutes,two 40 figurenumbersin 40 minutesand two 100-figurenumbersin
83 hours,and found the square root of a hundredfigurenumberin 52 minutes.
Gauss triedto turnhis abilities to some usefulpurpose and as a resultwe have
Dase's seven-place tables of the natural logarithms of numbers from 1 to
10,500 (1850) and his factor tables of all numbers in the sixth, seventh, and
eighthmillion(1862-65)." One otherof quite a differentkind may be included:
(p. 28) "Purely as a thrillingintellectual experience,without any imaginable
practical application, Apollonius of Perga, and other Greeks,developed a mar-
velous body of knowledgewith regard to conic sections. Then suddenly, 1800
years later, to a Kepler this knowledgehad most illuminatingpractical applica-
tions."
There is a touch of genius in saying familiarthingsin a new way. An author
who does thisadds somethingto his subject at the same time that he is present-
ing its various phases. This authorin his "Outline" makes a contributionin more
ways than the name indicates.
The "Literature List" which closes the book is a fineset of referencesto
books and magazine articles bearing on the contents of the work. These refer-
ences are referredto by number as the various mathematicians and mathe-
matical concepts are introduced.They presenta wide fieldforfurtherstudy in
each direction.The list should be used by librariesto check up theirresources
bearingon the historyof mathematics.
Table of Contents.PrefatoryNote. Synopsis. Historyof Mathematics before
the Seventeenth Century: A. Babylonian and Egyptian Mathematics 3500
B.C.-600 B.C., B. Greek Mathematics 600 B.C.-500 A.D., C. Hindu, Arabic, Per-
sian Mathematics 500-1200, D. European Mathematics 1200-1600. History of

This content downloaded from 131.94.16.10 on Mon, 16 Nov 2015 08:56:11 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
1932] RECENT PUBLICATIONS 423

Mathematics after the Sixteenth Century: A. The Seventeenth Century, B.

The EighteenthCentury,C. The NineteenthCenturyand Later.
To an instructorin the historyof mathematics this presentationwill offer
a variation in the handling of the course, and will be most welcome for that
reason. An index would have increased its usefulnesshere. It will be welcome
as well for the very readable story told so well and so authoritatively,which
latter reason recommendsit to any reader.
LAO G. SIMONS

CollegeAlgebra. By Louis J. Rouse. New York, John Wiley & Sons, 1931. x+
345 pages. $2.25.
The prefaceto this book states that "This book, though primarilyintended
foruse as a text-bookin the freshmanyear of colleges and technical schools, is
suitable foruse in any school offering a course in advanced algebra." This state-
ment, that the book may be used in schools of lower grade than the college,
seems to the reviewerto be necessary,forotherwisethe amount of elementary
material included seems unnecessarilylarge fora college text. To be sure, it is
claimed that this can serve as a basis of review for the college student, but it
seems as ifhe should be able to do this reviewingby himself,with the aid of his
previoustext-books.The only advantage fromthe pointofview of reviewis that
the material is easily accessible forreference.However, the inclusionof a large
amount of elementaryreview material is not peculiar to this text, but seems
to be a featureof many of the presentday college algebras.
In a fewplaces the book is not so inclusiveas it mightbe: forexample, in the
chapter on the theoryof equations, no treatmentis given of zero and infinite
roots. The explanations and developments of theory are well presented in
considerabledetail; and we found that when the book was actually tried with
a class, the students grasped these explanations more readily than they do the
moreconcise proofsgiven in some otherfrequentlyused texts.
There is an abundance of well chosen problems, so that the student is
affordedample practice. Those on determinants,mathematical induction and
the binomial theoremare especially good. In this connection,we observe that
the authors state that "the many solved examples are intended not so much to
serve as models forworkingsimilarexercises,as to illustratethe principlesand
niewtheoriesdeveloped in the text. The rules given are usually to be considered
as statements of processes which have been previouslydiscussed rather than
to be used mechanically in solving problems." This is a worthyaim in itself,
but we fear that it will not be realised, and that the average student will do
exactly what the author does not want him to do: he will use the rules and
solved examples as shortcuts to aid in solving other problems,without having
to spend much time studyingthe underlyingtheory.
In general, we may say that the book contains the usual material, well-
presented,and with ample problems. There is nothingextraordinaryin either
the choice or the presentationof material,nor any such originalityof treatment

This content downloaded from 131.94.16.10 on Mon, 16 Nov 2015 08:56:11 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions