Mathematical Treasure: Encyclopedia of Pure Mathematics

The following excerpts are from the Encyclopedia of Pure Mathematics, published in London in 1847. This work collects together in one book all of the mathematical articles from the “Pure Sciences” volumes of the Encyclopaedia Metropolitana, which was published from 1817 to 1845. The authors of the articles included Peter Barlow, George Peacock, George Biddell Airy, and, due to an unfortunate printing error, “Alfred” De Morgan.

The Encyclopedia provides a sense of the mathematical understanding of various concepts at this time. One of the first concepts to be examined in the section on arithmetic is the knowledge of numeration systems. A set of illustrative engravings near the end of the text depicts the symbols employed by various civilizations: Chinese, Maya, Egyptian, etc. A consideration of European computing devices, the abacus and counting table, is also presented.

A section on the “calculus of functions” (pages 305-306) deals with algebraic symbolism and its manipulation.

This material is obtained through the courtesy of the Peabody Library of Johns Hopkins University. A complete copy of the work can also be viewed in Google Books.

Index to Mathematical Treasures