Book, Key to Olney's University Algebra
date: label: date made
content: 1873
name: label: maker
content: Beman, Wooster Woodruff
notes: label: Description
content: This book is strictly a solutions manual, with only a few instances of explanation of or commentary on the results. There are no diagrams to accompany the word problems, although there are graphs of equations on pages 196-200. Algebraic symbols are in standard modern notation, including the use of three dots to denote "therefore" (p. 80, etc.). However, the notable feature of Olney's textbook was his use of infinitesimal calculus to teach the principles of advanced algebra found in the later portion of the book. In this section (p. 167ff), Beman used the letter "d" rather than a delta to denote differentiation, which is somewhat confusing. His division of polynomials and other manipulations of polynomials and their first and second derivatives is also difficult to follow. There are advertisements for Sheldon and Company's other textbooks inside both covers and on several pages at the back of the book. A partially torn cover reveals that a page from another book was used in fastening the leather outer layer to the pages. The copy is entirely clean.
label: Description
content: Beman rose through the ranks at Michigan to become the chair of mathematics after Olney died in 1887. He contributed to mathematics journals, belonged to professional societies including the American Mathematical Society and American Association for the Advancement of Science, and collaborated with David Eugene Smith on a set of mathematics textbooks and translations between 1895 and 1902. Beman also translated Richard Dedekind's <I>Essays on the Theory of Numbers</I> in 1901.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
topic: label: Subject
content: Education
label: Subject
content: Mathematics
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Mathematics
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Mrs. C. B. Schmeltzer in Memory of C. B. Schmeltzer
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1986.3110.10
label: catalog number
content: 1986.3110.10
label: nonaccession number
content: 1986.3110
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Book
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: paper (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 1.8 cm x 13 cm x 19.5 cm; 23/32 in x 5 1/8 in x 7 11/16 in