Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1873-02-06
Selection OF HOOKS.
rrrgR FROM PROMINENT TEA0hhh-

rrrrgR FROM PROMINENT TEAohhh-
E5;to,. Rutland Herald II see that
there has been some discussion in
H. ,ress ON the action of the Board |
of Educatfon and the selection OF
books made last June.
can not conceive how six sensible
men could be persuaded to adopt series
of books that compare SO poorly with
other books of the same grade. 1t must
be that the arithmetics were adopted on
the recommendation of the imported
secretary and book agent; for 1t cannot
be that the members of the Board are so
devoid of sense that, after a careful eX-
animation, they would adopt book SO
inferior to those now in use, and so lum-
bered up with rule upon rule for almost
the same thing, and with SO abstruse and
misty expla nations that they confuse
the pupil and he fails to get clear con-
ception of any thing.
Resides the definition are grossly in
correct. Mr. French says: IA power
is the product of two equal factors"
which is manifestly false. The first
power is not the product of two equal
factors.
He says, ''The scale of integers is a
decimal scale. Do all integers increase
and decrease by a decimal scale :? The
larger portion of the examples in his
book will require the use of a varying
scale. He says, Capacity is the extent
of any body" Is capacity synonymous
with extent
Again he says, E'The scale of declmals
being decimal" which means, iron is
iron, beef is beef.
He says, "a prime number is one that
can not be separated into factors,
(meaning integral factors j but the
word factor is not considered by the
best mathematicians to mean an integral
number unless it be so stated. "a frac-
ton, he says, sis number expressing
the quotient of a less integer divided by
a greater" His definition would exclude
all improper fractions. He says, "A
diagonal is straight line joining two
opposite angles of figure.
D............A The angle A is directly
opposite B. and yet the line
that joins thin is not 8
C.'''''''''''B diagonal but part of the
perimeter.
He says, ga cylinder is a solid whose
bases or ends are equal, parallel circles.
Then flour barrel, an hour glass, or s
common goblet would be cylinder, ne
} matter about the middle however mucf
it may expand or diminish in size pro
vided the ends are equal and parable
circles.
"a cone, he says, is a solid who's,
base is circle, and whose top is poin
or vertex." Our lamp chimneys tina
are so large in the middle would b.
cones if the upper part were prolonged
till it came to a point. No matter if ;
mountain be upon the middle, if the bas'
be circle and the top be point it will
be cone.
, These errors might be enumerated ad
infinitum, for the book is full of palp
able errors from beginning to end, anC
yet this is the book that the Board O
Education recommend to be placed il
} the hands of the children of Vermont II
fit them for business in active life ANY
person of common education, who is un
} biased by the power that turks behinC
, the throne, will easily see by examina
5 ton that French's arithmetics are yer,
z much inferior to the Practical now il
' use in the State, and we do not wonde
5 that so many of the prominent teacher
of the State have expressed their deter
= minatiOn not to use them
We think the secretary of the Boar,
has set a bad example by introducin!
} his arithmetics into the schools of tn
State contrary to law wherever he coul
: find any one that he could induce to tr
e them, and we shall expect to see the lay
regulating the use of school books i
, Vermont disregarded by most of teach
r ers for the next five years.
: We deem it a great misfortune tina
the Board of Education went out tn
e State for a secretary, and especially SO
/ that it selected man, who by his dom
] ineering spirit, has rendered himself obi
Gus to the oldest and best teachers of th
t State. A TEACHER.