Raymond Clare Archibald

Raymond Clare Archibald
Born (1875-10-07)7 October 1875
South Branch, Stewiacke, Nova Scotia, Canada
Died 26 July 1955(1955-07-26) (aged 78)
Sackville, Westmorland, New Brunswick, Canada
Nationality Canada, USA
Fields History of Mathematics
Institutions Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island
Alma mater Kaiser-Wilhelms-Universität Strassburg
Thesis The Cardioide and Some of its Related Curves
Doctoral advisor Karl Theodor Reye
Known for History of Mathematical Tables
Influences David Eugene Smith, Gösta Mittag-Leffler
Notable awards Membre Effective, Académie Internationale d’Historie des Sciences

Raymond Clare Archibald (7 October 1875 – 26 July 1955) was a prominent Canadian-American mathematician. He is known for his work as an historian of mathematics, his editorships of mathematical journals and his contributions to the teaching of mathematics.[1]

Biography

Raymond Clare Archibald was born in South Branch, Stewiacke, Nova Scotia on 7 October 1875. He was the son of Abram Newcomb Archibald (1849—1883) and Mary Mellish Archibald (1849—1901). He was the fourth cousin twice removed of the famous Canadian-American astronomer and mathematician Simon Newcomb (1835—1909).[2]

Archibald graduated in 1894 from Mount Allison College with B.A. degree in mathematics and teacher's certificate in violin. After teaching mathematics and violin for a year at the Mount Allison Ladies’ College he went to Harvard where he received a B.A. 1896 and a M.A. in 1897. He then traveled to Europe where he attended the University of Berlin during 1898 and received a Ph.D.cum laude from the University of Strassburg in 1900. His advisor was Karl Theodor Reye and title of his dissertation was The Cardioide and Some of its Related Curves.

He returned to Canada in 1900 and taught mathematics and violin at the Mount Allison Ladies’ College until 1907. After a one-year appointment at Acadia University he accepted an invitation of join the mathematics department at Brown University. He stayed at Brown for the rest of his career becoming a Professor Emeritus in 1943. While at Brown he created one of the finest mathematical libraries in the western hemisphere.[3]

Archibald returned to Mount Allison in 1954 to curate the Mary Mellish Archibald Memorial Library, the library he had founded in 1905 to honor his mother. At his death the library contained 23,000 volumes, 2,700 records, and 70,000 songs in American and English poetry and drama.[4]

Raymond Clare Archibald was a world-renowned historian of mathematics with a lifelong concern for the teaching of mathematics in secondary schools. At the presentation of his portrait to Brown University the head of the mathematics department, Professor Clarence Raymond Adams (1898–1965) said of him:

"The instincts of the bibliophile were also his from early years. Possessing a passion for accurate detail, systematic by nature and blessed with a memory that was the marvel of his friends, he gradually acquired a knowledge of mathematical books and their values which has scarcely been equalled. This knowledge and an untiring energy he dedicated to the upbuilding of the mathematical library at Brown University. From modest beginnings he has developed this essential equipment of the mathematical investigator to a point where it has no superior, in completeness and in convenience for the user."

Honors

Archibald received honorary degrees from the University of Padua (LL.D., 1922), Mount Allison University (LL.D., 1923) and from Brown University (M.A. ad eundem, 1943).[5]

Editorships

Bibliography

Archibald’s bibliography contains over 1,000 entries.[7] He contributed to over 20 different journals, mathematical, scientific, educational and literary. The following are the books of which he is an author:

Biographies

Further reading

References

  1. ↑ Stahlman, William D. (1956). "Raymond Claire Archibald (1875--1955)". Isis. 47 (3): 244––246. doi:10.1086/348505.
  2. ↑ Tatersall, James; Shawnee McMurran (2004). "Raymond Clare Archibald: His Life and Work". Proc. Can. Soc. Hist. Phil. Math. 17: 241–247.
  3. ↑ Archibald, Raymond. "From Martha Mitchell's Encyclopedia Brunoniana". From Martha Mitchell’s Encyclopedia Brunoniana. Brown University. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
  4. ↑ Archibald, Raymond. "Raymond Clare Archibald". Pages Through The Ages. Mount Allison University. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
  5. ↑ Sarton, George (1956). "Raymond Clare Archibald". Osiris. 12: 4–34. doi:10.1086/368594.
  6. ↑ MAA presidents: Raymond Clare Archibald
  7. ↑ Guthery, Scott (2012). Bibliography of Raymond Clare Archibald. Boston: Docent Press. p. 52. ISBN 9780983700425.
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