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The New Era in American Mathematics, 1920-1950

Paperback / softback

Main Details

Title The New Era in American Mathematics, 1920-1950
Authors and Contributors      By (author) Karen Hunger Parshall
Physical Properties
Format:Paperback / softback
Pages:640
Dimensions(mm): Height 235,Width 156
Category/GenreHistory of mathematics
History of science
ISBN/Barcode 9780691235240
ClassificationsDewey:510.72073
Audience
General
Illustrations 38 b/w illus.

Publishing Details

Publisher Princeton University Press
Imprint Princeton University Press
Publication Date 22 February 2022
Publication Country United States

Description

A meticulously researched history on the development of American mathematics in the three decades following World War I As the Roaring Twenties lurched into the Great Depression, to be followed by the scourge of Nazi Germany and World War II, American mathematicians pursued their research, positioned themselves collectively within American science, and rose to global mathematical hegemony. How did they do it? The New Era in American Mathematics, 1920-1950 explores the institutional, financial, social, and political forces that shaped and supported this community in the first half of the twentieth century. In doing so, Karen Hunger Parshall debunks the widely held view that American mathematics only thrived after European emigres fled to the shores of the United States. Drawing from extensive archival and primary-source research, Parshall uncovers the key players in American mathematics who worked together to effect change and she looks at their research output over the course of three decades. She highlights the educational, professional, philanthropic, and governmental entities that bolstered progress. And she uncovers the strategies implemented by American mathematicians in their quest for the advancement of knowledge. Throughout, she considers how geopolitical circumstances shifted the course of the discipline. Examining how the American mathematical community asserted itself on the international stage, The New Era in American Mathematics, 1920-1950 shows the way one nation became the focal point for the field.

Author Biography

Karen Hunger Parshall is the Commonwealth Professor of History and Mathematics at the University of Virginia. She is the author of James Joseph Sylvester: Jewish Mathematician in a Victorian World and the coauthor of Taming the Unknown: A History of Algebra from Antiquity to the Early Twentieth Century (Princeton).

Reviews

"Clearly the definitive treatment of the ascendancy of the American research mathematics community to international prominence during the first half of the twentieth century. As such, it will serve as the point of departure for anyone wanting to delve further into the mathematics being produced in the United States in this time period."---Calvin Jongsma, MAA Reviews