2016/11/10 by Joseph Gage · 1 citation
Engineering · Mathematics · Social Sciences · #Abstract algebra #Algebra over a field #Computer science #Course (navigation) #Documentation #Engineering #Focus (optics) #Historical and Literary Studies #History and Theory of Mathematics #Mathematics #Mathematics and Applications #Mathematics education #Period (music) #Philosophy #Physics #Pure mathematics #Set (abstract data type) #math.HO
paper · pdf · doi:10.1080/17498430.2016.1244630
published in BSHM Bulletin Journal of the British Society for the History of Mathematics 32(2), 149-159 (Taylor & Francis)
openalex publication_date 2016/11/10 · arxiv created 2017/05/26 · arxiv updated 2017/05/29 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
The nineteenth century was an important period for both Oxford mathematics and algebra in general. While there is extensive documentation of mathematical research in Oxford at this time, the same cannot be said of the teaching. The content of the course presents a different picture: it shows what those who set it felt was most valuable for a young mathematician to learn, perhaps indicating what direction they expected mathematics to take in the future. To find out what undergraduates were taught, I have looked through examination papers of the years between 1828 and 1912 with a focus on algebra, as well as supporting material. In this paper I will present my findings. I will give a picture of what an Oxford undergraduate's course in algebra looked like by the end of the nineteenth century and discuss my own conclusions as to why it took such a form.