The Mathematical Tripos

Excerpts

• The Mathematical Tripos

  “No man of science should think it a waste of time to learn something of the history of his own subject; nor is the investigation of laborious methods now fallen into disuse, or of errors once commonly accepted the least valuable of mental disciplines.”

• The Mathematical Tripos

  Probably the science (as distinct from the art) of mathematics, save so far as involved in the quadrivium, was still an exotic study, but it was not wholly neglected.

• The Mathematical Tripos

  Newton’s mathematical career dates from 1665; his reputation, abilities, and influence attracted general attention to the subject.

• The Mathematical Tripos

  The extraction of roots, the arithmetic of surds, the invention of divisers, the resolution of quadratic, cubic, and biquadratic equations;

• The Mathematical Tripos

  I was badgered for two hours with arguments given and answered in Latin,---or what we call Latin---against Newton’s first section, Lagrange’s derived functions, and Locke on innate principles.

• The Mathematical Tripos

  and according to tradition, on one occasion the candidates on entering in the morning found the ink in the pots on their desks frozen.

• The Mathematical Tripos

  In the cubic equation $x^3 + qx + r = 0$ which wants the second term; supposing $x = a + b$ and $3ab=-q$, to determine the value of $x$.

• The Mathematical Tripos

  I was not up to the *differential* calculus, and never acquired it.

• The Mathematical Tripos

  they would require every candidate to show a competent knowledge of the first book of Euclid, arithmetic, vulgar and decimal fractions, simple and quadratic equations,

• The Mathematical Tripos

  ‘It was a quadratic,’ said he, ‘made me senior wrangler.’

• The Mathematical Tripos

  They created an Analytical Society which Babbage explained was formed to advocate “the principles of pure $d$-ism as opposed to the *dot*-age of the University.”

• The Mathematical Tripos

  In 1817 Peacock, who was moderator, introduced the symbols for differentiation into the papers set in the Senate-House examination.

• The Mathematical Tripos

  It is by silent perseverance only that we can hope to reduce the many-headed monster of prejudice, and make the University answer her character as the loving mother of good learning and science.

• The Mathematical Tripos

  We are employed from seven in the morning till five in the evening in giving out questions and receiving written answers to them; and when that is over, we have to read over all the papers which we have received in the course of the day, to determine who have done best, which is a business that in numerous years has often kept the examiners up the half of every night; but this year is not particularly numerous.

• The Mathematical Tripos

  The assignment of marks to groups of subjects was made under the impression that the best candidates would concentrate their abilities on a selection of subjects from the various divisions. But it was found that, unless the questions were made extremely difficult, more marks could be obtained by reading superficially all the subjects in the five divisions than by attaining real proficiency in a few of the higher ones:

• The Mathematical Tripos

  In 1895 the proctors and moderators, without consulting the Senate, sent in no verses, and thus, in spite of widespread regret, an interesting custom of many centuries standing was destroyed.

Equations

Problems

No exercises in this chapter.