The new era in American mathematics, 1920-1950 / Karen Hunger Parshall.
| Author/creator | Parshall, Karen Hunger, 1955- author. |
| Format | Book |
| Publication | Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press, [2022] |
| Description | xxvii, 605 pages : illustrations, map ; 24 cm |
| Subjects |
| Contents | Machine generated contents note: pt. I 1920-1929: "WE ARE EVIDENTLY ON THE VERGE OF IMPORTANT STEPS FORWARD" -- ROLAND RICHARDSON, UNDATED BUT EARLY 1926 -- 1. Surveying the 1920s Research Landscape -- Mathematicians in Colleges and Universities -- A Recognized American Specialty: Analysis Situs -- Geometries, Differential and Algebraic -- Algebraic Research -- Research in Analysis -- Areas of Lesser American Interest -- 2. Strengthening the Infrastructure of American Mathematics -- "Corporatizing" Research-Level Mathematics -- Raising Money to Enable Research -- Sustaining Support for Publication -- Championing American Achievements -- 3. Breaking onto the International Scene -- Engaging in the International Politics of Mathematics -- Americans Abroad -- Europeans in the United States -- An Englishman in America and an American in England: The Hardy-Veblen Exchange -- International Competition and Collaboration: The Case of Point-Set Topology in Poland and the United States -- pt. II 1929-1941: "A GENERATION AGO WE WERE IN NEED OF DIRECT STIMULATION NOW WE COULD WELL INTERCHANGE" -- GRIFFITH EVANS, 16 JANUARY, 1934 -- 4. Sustaining the Momentum? -- Trying to Do Mathematical Research in the Early 1930s -- The Targeted Building of Programs in the 1930s -- A New Experiment: The Institute for Advanced Study -- Journals in an Evolving Research Community -- 5. Adapting to Geopolitical Changes -- International Business As Usual? -- Embracing Foreign Mathematicians -- Mathematicians and the Emergency Committee in Aid of Displaced German Scholars -- A First Wave of Mathematical Refugees Hits the Northeast -- The First Wave of Mathematical Refugees Spreads over the Rest of the Country -- 6. Taking Stock in a Changing World -- Conflicting Perceptions of the Mathematical Endeavor -- Developments in Topology -- Geometrical Shifts -- Strides in Algebraic Research -- Analysis in the 1930s -- 7. Looking beyond the United States -- Hosting the International Congress of Mathematicians? -- Confronting a Second Wave of Mathematical Emigris -- Accommodating a second Wave oj Mathematical emigres in the Northeast -- Accommodating a Second Wave of Mathematical imigris outside the Northeast -- Geopolitics and Mathematical Reviewing in the Late 1930s -- pt. III 1941-1950: THE "CENTER OF GRAVITY OF MATHEMATICS HAS MOVED MORE DEFINITELY TOWARD AMERICA" -- ROLAND RICHARDSON, 25 APRIL, 1939 -- 8. Waging War -- Mobilizing American Mathematics for War -- A New Educational Initiative: Brown's Program of Advanced Instruction and Research in Mechanics -- War Work -- Trying to Maintain Professional Normalcy in Wartime -- 9. Picking Back Up and Moving On in the Postwar World -- Adjusting to New Political Realities -- Reestablishing a Professional Rhythm -- Building Programs -- Disseminating Postwar Mathematical Results -- 10. Sustaining and Building Research Agendas -- The Princeton Bicentennial Conference on "Problems of Mathematics" -- Sustaining American Research Agendas -- Building "New" American Research Agendas -- Coda: A New Era in American Mathematics -- The New Domestic Politics of Mathematics -- The New Geopolitics of Mathematics -- The International Congress of Mathematicians: Cambridge, MA, 1950. |
| Abstract | "The 1920s witnessed the birth of a serious mathematical research community in America. Prior to this, mathematical research was dominated by scholars based in Europe-but World War I had made the importance of scientific and technological development clear to the American research community, resulting in the establishment of new scientific initiatives and infrastructure. Physics and chemistry were the beneficiaries of this renewed scientific focus, but the mathematical community also benefitted, and over time, began to flourish. Over the course of the next two decades, despite significant obstacles, this constellation of mathematical researchers, programs, and government infrastructure would become one of the strongest in the world. In this meticulously-researched book, Karen Parshall documents the uncertain, but ultimately successful, rise of American mathematics during this time. Drawing on research carried out in archives around the country and around the world, as well as on the secondary literature, she reveals how geopolitical circumstances shifted the course of international mathematics. She provides surveys of the mathematical research landscape in the 1920s, 30s, and 40s, introduces the key players and institutions in mathematics at that time, and documents the effect of the Great Depression and the second world war on the international mathematical community. The result is a comprehensive account of the shift of mathematics' "center of gravity" to the American stage"-- Provided by publisher. |
| Abstract | "A meticulously researched history on the development of American mathematics in the three decades following World War IAs 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 émigrés 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 ways one nation became the focal point for the field"-- Provided by publisher. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| Issued in other form | Online version: Parshall, Karen Hunger, 1955- New era in american mathematics, 1920-1950 1st. Princeton : Princeton University Press, 2022 9780691233819 |
| Genre/form | History. |
| LCCN | 2021051901 |
| ISBN | 9780691235240 paperback |
| ISBN | 0691235244 paperback |
| ISBN | 9780691197555 hardcover |
| ISBN | 0691197555 hardcover |
| ISBN | electronic book |