The New Era in American Mathematics, 1920-1950 - by Karen Hunger Parshall

About the Book

"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"--

Book Synopsis

A meticulously researched history on the development of American mathematics in the three decades following World War I

As 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 way one nation became the focal point for the field.

Review Quotes

"While following a large cast of characters through a variety of institutional contexts, [Parshall] stops along the way to give meaningful background on each without losing the thread of the story. . . . [The New Era in American Mathematics,1920-1950] brings together and fills the gaps in what has already been written about the early twentieth century, and it offers new analysis based on in-depth explorations of personal (in some cases, private) and institutional archives."---Ellen Abrams, The Mathematical Intelligencer

"Karen Parshall masterfully examines the self-laudatory claim for 'a new era' that elite American mathematicians advanced as they secured leadership positions on the international stage. . . . The writing is elegant and at times gripping."---Jemma Lorenat, Isis

"Clearly the definitive treatment of the ascendancy of the American research mathematics community to international prominence during the first half of the twentieth century. As such, it will serve as the point of departure for anyone wanting to delve further into the mathematics being produced in the United States in this time period."---Calvin Jongsma, MAA Reviews

About the Author

Karen Hunger Parshall is the Commonwealth Professor of History and Mathematics at the University of Virginia. She is the author of James Joseph Sylvester: Jewish Mathematician in a Victorian World and the coauthor of Taming the Unknown: A History of Algebra from Antiquity to the Early Twentieth Century (Princeton).