Margaret E. Baron (1915 – 16 August 1996) was a British mathematics educator and

historian of mathematics The history of mathematics deals with the origin of discoveries in mathematics and the mathematical methods and notation of the past. Before the modern age and the worldwide spread of knowledge, written examples of new mathematical developments ...

known for her book on the

history of calculus Calculus, originally called infinitesimal calculus, is a mathematical discipline focused on limits, continuity, derivatives, integrals, and infinite series. Many elements of calculus appeared in ancient Greece, then in China and the Middle East, a ...

Life

Baron was originally from

Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...

, in northeastern England, and earned a bachelor's degree from

Durham University , mottoeng = Her foundations are upon the holy hills (Psalm 87:1) , established = (university status) , type = Public , academic_staff = 1,830 (2020) , administrative_staff = 2,640 (2018/19) , chancellor = Sir Thomas Allen , vice_chan ...

through

King's College, Newcastle Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a UK public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is a red brick unive ...

, which later became

Newcastle University Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a UK public university, public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is ...

. She worked for a year as an English teacher in

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

, and in 1938 became a mathematics teacher at the Bede School for Girls, later to become part of

Sunderland College Sunderland College, officially City of Sunderland College, is a further education and higher education college based in Sunderland, North East England. The enrolment includes around 6,300 part-time learners and approximately 4,800 full-time stu ...

. Because she married George Baron, a teacher at the corresponding boys' school, she was dismissed as a teacher in 1940. She took two more teaching posts, at the

Royal Grammar School, Newcastle upon Tyne (By Learning, You Will Lead) , established = , closed = , type = Grammar SchoolIndependent day school , religion = , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Geoffrey Stanford , r_head_label = , r_head = , chair_label = , cha ...

and the

High Storrs School High Storrs School is a mixed secondary school and sixth form college with academy status located on the south-western outskirts of Sheffield, England. The main school building is Grade II listed. It moved to its current site in 1933. The sch ...

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

, before leaving work to raise her family in Gateshead. Her husband returned from war service in 1946, and they moved to London. Eventually she returned to teaching, at

Goldsmiths' College Goldsmiths, University of London, officially the Goldsmiths' College, is a constituent research university of the University of London in England. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by the Wor ...

and then, in 1957, as head of mathematics at the Stockwell College of Education. While there, she wrote a master's thesis on the history of

calculus Calculus, originally called infinitesimal calculus or "the calculus of infinitesimals", is the mathematical study of continuous change, in the same way that geometry is the study of shape, and algebra is the study of generalizations of arithm ...

in 1960, and completed a PhD in 1965. She retired in 1977, and died on 16 August 1996.

Contributions

Baron's book ''The Origins of the Infinitesimal Calculus'', originally published in 1969 by Pergamon, was reprinted in 1987 by Dover Books, and has been suggested for inclusion in undergraduate mathematics libraries by the

Mathematical Association of America The Mathematical Association of America (MAA) is a professional society that focuses on mathematics accessible at the undergraduate level. Members include university, college, and high school teachers; graduate and undergraduate students; pure a ...

. She also wrote several other publications in the history of mathematics, including contributions to the ''Dictionary of Scientific Biography''. She became one of the founders of the

Association of Teachers of Mathematics The Association of Teachers of Mathematics (ATM) was established by Caleb Gattegno in 1950 to encourage the development of mathematics education to be more closely related to the needs of the learner. ATM is a membership organisation representing ...

in the early 1950s, and wrote additional publications in mathematics education, including the book ''Number in Elementary Mathematics'' (Hutchinson, 1973).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baron, Margaret 1915 births 1996 deaths British women historians British women mathematicians Mathematics educators British historians of mathematics Alumni of King's College, Newcastle