Louise Doris Adams (2 July 1889 – 24 December 1965) was a British mathematics educator and

school inspector A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compulsor ...

(HMI) who wrote the 1953 book ''A Background to Primary School Mathematics'' (Oxford University Press) and became president of the

Mathematical Association The Mathematical Association is a professional society concerned with mathematics education in the UK. History It was founded in 1871 as the Association for the Improvement of Geometrical Teaching and renamed to the Mathematical Association in ...

for 1959.

Life

Adams earned a degree from

Bedford College, London file:Bedford College in York place - photographer is unknown but guess 1908.png, Bedford College was in York Place after 1874 Bedford College was founded in London in 1849 as the first higher education college for education of women, women in th ...

, with second-class honours in mathematics in 1911. Her work as an inspector was centred on the

West Country The West Country (occasionally Westcountry) is a loosely defined area of South West England, usually taken to include all, some, or parts of the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Bristol, and, less commonly, Wiltshire, Gloucesters ...

and particularly

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

; she retired from the inspectorate in 1950. She joined the

in approximately 1915, and was a member for 51 years; she became a member of the Teaching Sub-Committee of the Mathematical Association in 1946, of which she became Chairman in 1954 and remained a member until her death. She was also a member of the Applications, Arithmetic and Secondary Modern Sub-Committees. When she became president of the Mathematical Association in 1959, she became only the second woman to hold that office since the association's founding in 1871, after

Mary Cartwright Dame Mary Lucy Cartwright, (17 December 1900 – 3 April 1998) was a British mathematician. She was one of the pioneers of what would later become known as chaos theory. Along with J. E. Littlewood, Cartwright saw many solutions to a problem ...

in 1951, and the second HMI, after W. C. Fletcher in 1939. She died in 1965.

Contributions

Adams had "considerable experience as a teacher and inspector" and wrote her book, ''A Background to Primary School Mathematics'' (1953), on the basis of that experience. It was aimed at teachers of primary-school mathematics, and used case studies from approximately 80 students to advocate linking the teaching of mathematics to the individual experiences of the students. Her book "inspired many teachers" and prefigured a greater emphasis on play with mathematical tools over rote learning. As a member of the Teaching Sub-Committee of the Mathematical Association, Adams helped shift the association's focus "from teaching to learning" and from what should be taught to how it should be taught, and promoted the inclusion of primary as well as secondary education within the project's scope. Both her book and her presidential address to the Mathematical Association were a major impetus to the reform of mathematical education in the UK, as was the Teaching Sub-Committee's 1955 report ''The Teaching of Mathematics in Primary Schools'', which she was instrumental in writing.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, L. D. 1965 deaths British mathematicians Women mathematicians Mathematics educators Alumni of Bedford College, London 1889 births