A History of the Study of Mathematics at Cambridge

For centuries, Cambridge University has attracted some of the world's greatest mathematicians. This 1889 book gives a compelling account of how mathematics developed at Cambridge from the middle ages to the late nineteenth century, from the viewpoint of a leading scholar based at Trinity College who was closely involved in teaching the subject. The achievements of notable individuals including Newton and his school are set in the context of the history of the university, its sometimes uneasy relationship with the town community, the college system, and the origin and growth of the mathematical tripos. Excerpt: I have therefore added in chapter XI. (as a sort of appendix) a very brief sketch of the general history of the university for any of my readers who may not be acquainted with the larger works which deal with that subject. I hope that the addition of the chapter and of the similar chapter dealing with the organization of studies in the mediaeval university will sufficiently justify me in the use in the earlier chapters of various technical words, such as regents, caput, tripos, praevaricator, &c. I have tried to give references in the footnotes to the authorities on which I have mainly relied. In the few cases where no reference is inserted, I have had to compile my account from various sources. Of the numerous dictionaries of biography which I have consulted the only ones which have proved of much use are the Biographica Britannica, six volumes, London, 1747 - 66 (second edition, enlarged, letters A to Fas only, five volumes, 1778 - 93); the Penny Cyclopaedia, twenty-seven volumes, London, 1833 - 43; J. C. Poggendorff's Biographisch-Literarisches Handworterbuch zur Geschichte der exacten Wissenschaften, two volumes, Leipzig, 1863; and the new Dictionary of national biography, which at present only contains references to those whose names commence with one of the early letters of the alphabet.