1. 201 Years of Mathematics at West Point
Would be nice to have a West Point background for this slide.
V. Frederick Rickey

2. West Point Founded 1802
In 1793 Washington held a Cabinet meeting to discuss an academy. Hamilton and Knox were in favor, Jefferson opposed.
Jefferson founded the Academy to break the Federalist hold on government and to create a Republican army loyal to him.

3. George Baron Our zeroeth professor of mathematics, hired 16 March 1801
Founded The Mathematical Correspondent, the first mathematical periodical in the US, 1804
Used Hutton’s Course in Mathematics
Used Hutton’s Course in Mathematics. I took this out because I will do Hutton momentarily.

5. Professor Baron furnished me with Dr
Professor Baron furnished me with Dr. Hutton's Mathematics, and gave me a specimen of his mode of teaching at the blackboard at the academy.
Joseph G. Swift, first graduate of West Point.
Add title page of Adrian’s edition of Hutton

6. Joseph Gardner Swift Swift was the first USMA graduate, in 1802
Superintendent,

7. American Editions of Hutton
Edited by Adrain
A chapter on Descriptive Geometry
Not attributed to Crozet

8. Teaching from Hutton in 1814

9. Jared Mansfield, 1759-1830 Taught mathematics 1802-1803
USMA’s first Professor of Philosophy, appointed 1812.
By Thomas Sully, , in the USMA museum.

10. Ferdinand Hassler
Published the first book on analytic trigonometry in the US

13. Claude Crozet Brought Descriptive Geometry to the US in 1816.
Reintroduced the “black board” at USMA.
Wrote A Treatise on Descriptive Geometry (1821), the first book on the subject in English.
Add a picture of Crozet. Add his dates. When was he at WP?
Claude Crozet
CROZET, Claude, educator, born in France; died in He was educated at the Polytechnic school in Paris and became an officer of artillery under Napoleon I. He came to the United States in 1816, and on 1 October was appointed assistant professor of engineering at the U. S. military academy at West Point, and on 6 March 1817, professor. He resigned in 1823, and thereafter acted as a civil engineer.
Edited Appletons Encyclopedia, Copyright © 2001 VirtualologyTM

14. Olivier Models Designed for teaching Descriptive Geometry
Purchased 1857
Made by Fabre de Lagrange in Paris
24 of 26 survive
Need a better picture.

15. Henry Moore At Storm King Art Center
Stringed Figure No. 1 . Smithsonian's Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.
Need to get titles of these sculptures.
Add titles and dates to these sculptures.
Naum Gabo, Barbara Hepworth
At Storm King Art Center

16. Alden Partridge,
USMA, 1906
First official “Professor of Mathematics”
Father of ROTC
Meligned by Cullum

17. Andrew Ellicott 1754 - 1820 Laid out DC Math P at USMA, 1813 – 1820
Nickname: Old infinite series
Had a slate tied to his buttonhole
First P to die here

18. Ellicott tutored Meriwether Lewis in surveying and navigation

19. Sylvanus Thayer (1808)
Assistant Professor of Mathematics, USMA,
Visited technical and military schools in France and England,
Superintendent, USMA,
Founded Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth, 1867
“Father of the Military Academy”

20. Collection:Adolph Wittemann - U. S. Military AcademyTitle:U. S
Collection:Adolph Wittemann - U.S. Military AcademyTitle:U.S. Military Academy, West Point, N.Y.: photo-gravuresSubject:United States Military Academy--Pictorial works.Description:[67] leaves : all ill. ; 24 x 29 cm.Author:Wittemann, A. (Adolph), Publisher:Albertype Co.Date original:1896Type:Image/JPEGFormat:Photo-gravureCall Number:U410.L3 W
This is on the library web

21. The Thayer Method of Teaching
Cadets read; no lectures [ ? ]
Every cadet is graded every day
Small sections of 10-12
Sections grouped by performance
U.S. Scott No. 1852

22. Charles Davies (1807-1878) USMA 1815 Dept Head 1823-37
Published 49 books
492 printings/edn’s
By 1875 he was selling 350,000 books per year

23. Eight books in Eleven years
Elements of Descriptive Geometry, 1826
Elements of Geometry and Trigonometry, 1828
Elements of Surveying, 1830
A Treatise on Shades and Shadows, and Linear Perspective, 1832
The Common School Arithmetic, 1833
Elements of Algebra: Translated from the French of M. Bourdon, 1835
Elements of the Differential and Integral Calculus, 1836
Elements of Analytical Geometry, 1837

24. Teach one thing at a time ─ teach that thing thoroughly ─ and as far as possible, teach all its connections with other things.
Charles Davies at the National Meeting of Teachers, Michigan 1852.

25. Albert E. Church (USMA 1828) Professor of Mathematics, 1837-1878†
Widely used textbooks:
Elements of Differential and Integral Calculus
Elements of Analytical Geometry
Elements of Analytical Trigonometry
Elements of Descriptive Geometry
Nickname: Old Stinky

29. Church, the Man A kindly, patient teacher Worked with weak cadets
Agonized over cadet failures

30. Church’s Teaching
He did not inspire me ─ he had no magnetism ─ he was dry as dust, as his textbooks.
Morris Schaff (USMA 1862)
The mathematical recitation was a drill room. In my opinion the result was a soldier who knew the maneuvers, but it did not give an independent, self-reliant grasp of the methods of research.
Arthur Hardy (USMA 1869)

31. Robert Parrott, USMA 1824
Plum Bush Inn
In Cold Spring

32. A SONNET TO "ANALYTICAL" Of all the girls I ever knew,
The one I've most neglected,
Is called Miss “Anna Lytical,”
For her I've least respected.
Oh! Anna! Anna Lytical
I'll never love you more,
For you, I fear, will cause my fall,
And make me leave the Corps.
And now, -- oh! Anna Lytical
I hope that "Albert E.,“
Before the "Board," will not give out
A word of you to me.
For if he does, now Anna
I tremble at the sound,
For my examination would
Result in being "found.“
Oh! cruel Anna Lytical!
With truth I now can say,
I fear you'll never let me see
My "Graduation day."
For much of the history of West Point, a course in Analytical Geometry was part of the curriculum. This poem by an unknown cadet shows what the that cadet thought of the course.
The "Albert E." referred to is Albert E. Church who was head of the Mathematics Department from 1837 to 1878, longer than any other individual. The "Board" is the Academic Board, which consisted of the Professors at West Point. They conducted oral exams twice each year. They had the questions prepared in advance and were assigned randomly to cadets.
Written exams --- remember that's what the W in WPR is for --- were introduced by Professor Edgerton during his term as department head, A cadet who failed the exam was said to be "found" deficient.

35. Resectioning in 1899
This 1890 copy of Davies’ Algebra and Trigonometry was owned by U.S. Grant (USMA 1903). He was first in the second section and then moved to 5th in 1st ─ behind Douglas MacArthur.

36. Thomas Selfridge

37. Albert L. Mills, USMA 1891 Shot in the eye
Awarded the Medal of Honor as a 1st Lt. at San Juan Hill in Cuba
President McKinley liked him
Appointed Superintendent to West Point by President McKinley, which carried an automatic promotion from 1st Lt. to Col.
Served
Echols flunked 40% of plebes in 1905
Punishment tour of Europe

38. Edgerton
Echols

39. Charles Patton Echols 1867-1940 USMA 1891
Served at Engineer School at Willet's Point, NY
Instructor of Mathematics, USMA
Assistant Professor of Mathematics
1898 Commander, Engineer Company in the Philippines
Associate Professor of Mathematics
1918:  Special duty as military observer with Allied Armies in France
Prof Math and Department Head
Murdered in Bryant park

40. Harris Jones USMA 1917
1918 Commander, Engineer Co, 3rd Division, World War I
Instructor of Mathematics, USMA
1923 MS, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Assigned to 8th Engineer Bn, Ft Bliss, TX
Assistant Director of Public Buildings and Parks, D.C.
American Battle Monuments Commission, Paris
Prof Math and Department Head
Dean of the Academic Board

41. William Weston Bessell, Jr. 1901-1977 USMA 1920
MS, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY
Prof. of Military Science, Rose Polytechnic Institute
Assistant Professor of Mathematics, USMA
American Battle Monuments Commission, Paris
Chief of Military Personnel Branch, Washington, D.C.
Army Director, Joint War Plans Committee
Cmdg General, Antilles Dept, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Prof Math and Department Head
Rebuilt Thayer Hall.
Dean of the Academic Board

42. Charles Parsons Nicholas 1903-1985 USMA 1925
Inst of English, USMA Preparatory School, Hawaii
Instructor of Mathematics
Asso. Prof. of Mathematics
Deputy Director of Central Intelligence, National Security Council
Prof Math and Deputy Head  
Prof Math and Department Head

43. The Trouncing… November 1932 – Army trounced Harvard in football 46-0
President Lowell proclaimed that Harvard “could just as easily win any contest of a more academic nature”

44. The Challenge…
“I would very much like to test our method of teaching mathematics against that of your institution. I, frankly, think our method is superior to yours, and would like to try it out.”
-Major General Connor, Superintendent of
the United States Military Academy in a letter to President Lowell

45. Harvard Curricula Freshmen Sophomores Met for 3 hours per week
Textbooks
Osgood & Graustein, Plane and Analytic Geometry
Osgood’s Introduction to Calculus
Sophomores
Under guidance of tutors
Subjects
Analytic Geometry
Algebra

46. West Point Curriculum Four semester core curriculum Subjects
Freshmen: 8 hours per week
Sophomores:4 hours per week
Subjects
Algebra and Trigonometry
Solid and Analytic Geometry
Differential and Integral Calculus
Least Squares (upper 1/3 of class)

47. Preparations for Battle at West Point
“We are really series about this contest. We really mean it. We’re just dyne to meet those dumb Harvard guys, and we’re determinant to win. We all hope to make our integral signs.”

48. Preparations for Battle at West Point
From March 15 – May 20
Excused from parade 3 days a week
Excused from intramural athletics
Drilled in extra mathematics two afternoons a week

49. The Faculty in 1950 2 Professors 3 Associate Prof. 4 Assistant Prof.
29 Instructors
37 Total
1 PhD
10 MS
26 BS
31 West Point Grads
6 Non-grads

50. The Curriculum in 1950 Algebra: 50 hours Slide rule: 5
Trigonometry: 48
Solid mensuration: 20
Analytic geometry: 106
Calculus: 44
Calculus: 88
Differential equations: 24
Statistics: 21

51. The Curriculum in 1960 Algebra: 27 hours Slide rule: 8
Trigonometry: 56
Solid geometry: 29
Analytic geometry: 95
Calculus: 63
Vector analysis: 21
Calculus: 63
Differential equations: 13
Statistics: 33

52. Robert Carl Yates, 1904-1963 PhD, Johns Hopkins, 1930.
COL, Corps of Engineers,
Associate Professor of Mathematics, USMA,
First PhD in the department.
Department Head at William and Mary College.
I made up the 1948 date. Need to check it out.

53. Frank Giordano (USMA 1964) Department head 1988-1995
Reorganized the curriculum in 1991
Discrete Dynamical Systems
Calculus and Differential Equations
Multivariate Calculus
Probability and Statistics
7 into 4

54. But they are the two best things that have happened to the Academy.
The two things I was most opposed to at the time were
Women cadets
Civilian faculty
But they are the two best things that have happened to the Academy.
COL Gary Krahn

55. Women at West Point 631 applied for the class of 1980 (of 6761)
176 were found qualified
148 offered admissions
116 entered in June 1976
87 graduated in June 1980
Today 15% of the class are women
Crackel, p. 240

56. COL Kathi Snook Graduated 1980 1987: MA in applied math
: “rotator” in math
1997: Ed.D., Boston University
2002: Retired from the Army

57. Iso Schoenberg (1903-1990) First Visiting Professor, 1977-1978
First civilian in the 20th century
Penn, Aberdeen, Princeton, Wisconsin
Splines

58. Questions? The Classroom in 1904
Add a Stockbridge photo here, but be sure to get information about it, including identifying the people.
Cadet recites a geometry problem at boards for CPT Smith.Photographer:Stockbridge, William H., d Publisher:United States Military AcademyDate.Original:undatedType:Image/TIFFFormat:PhotographStockbridge Number:152Cullum Number:Collection:Photographs of West Point - William H. Stockbridge
The Classroom in 1904