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

Biography

Raymond Clare Archibald was born in South Branch, Stewiacke,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

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 Simon Newcomb (March 12, 1835 – July 11, 1909) was a Canadian–American astronomer, applied mathematician, and autodidactic polymath. He served as Professor of Mathematics in the United States Navy and at Johns Hopkins University. Born in Nov ...

. 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 Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

where he received a B.A. 1896 and a M.A. in 1897. He then traveled to Europe where he attended the

Humboldt University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...

during 1898 and received a Ph.D. cum laude from the

University of Strasbourg The University of Strasbourg (french: Université de Strasbourg, Unistra) is a public research university located in Strasbourg, Alsace, France, with over 52,000 students and 3,300 researchers. The French university traces its history to the ea ...

in 1900. His advisor was Karl Theodor Reye and title of his dissertation was The

Cardioid In geometry, a cardioid () is a plane curve traced by a point on the perimeter of a circle that is rolling around a fixed circle of the same radius. It can also be defined as an epicycloid having a single cusp. It is also a type of sinusoidal ...

e and Some of its Related Curves. He returned to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

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 Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

. 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. 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. 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 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

. 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 The University of Padua ( it, Università degli Studi di Padova, UNIPD) is an Italian university located in the city of Padua, region of Veneto, northern Italy. The University of Padua was founded in 1222 by a group of students and teachers from B ...

(LL.D., 1922),

Mount Allison University Mount Allison University (also Mount A or MtA) is a Canadian primarily undergraduate liberal arts university located in Sackville, New Brunswick, founded in 1839. Like other liberal arts colleges in North America, Mount Allison does not parti ...

(LL.D., 1923) and from

(M.A. ad eundem, 1943). * Fellow,

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...

(1906) * Member,

Deutsche Mathematiker-Vereinigung The German Mathematical Society (german: Deutsche Mathematiker-Vereinigung, DMV) is the main professional society of German mathematicians and represents German mathematics within the European Mathematical Society (EMS) and the International Mathe ...

(1908) * Member,

Edinburgh Mathematical Society The Edinburgh Mathematical Society is a mathematical society for academics in Scotland. History The Society was founded in 1883 by a group of Edinburgh school teachers and academics, on the initiative of Alexander Yule Fraser FRSE and Andrew Je ...

(1909) * Member,

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 ...

(England) (1910) * Member,

Société Mathématique de France Lactalis is a French multinational dairy products corporation, owned by the Besnier family and based in Laval, Mayenne, France. The company's former name was Besnier SA. Lactalis is the largest dairy products group in the world, and is the sec ...

(1911) * Member,

London Mathematical Society The London Mathematical Society (LMS) is one of the United Kingdom's learned societies for mathematics (the others being the Royal Statistical Society (RSS), the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications (IMA), the Edinburgh Mathematical S ...

(1912) * Charter Member,

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 ...

(1916); elected president for 1922 * Fellow,

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...

(1917) * Librarian,

American Mathematical Society The American Mathematical Society (AMS) is an association of professional mathematicians dedicated to the interests of mathematical research and scholarship, and serves the national and international community through its publications, meetings, ...

(1921-1941) * Member,

Circolo Matematico di Palermo The Circolo Matematico di Palermo (Mathematical Circle of Palermo) is an Italian List of mathematical societies, mathematical society, founded in Palermo by Sicilian geometer Giovanni Battista Guccia, Giovanni B. Guccia in 1884.Unione Matematica Italiana The Italian Mathematical Union ( it, Unione Matematica Italiana) is a mathematical society based in Italy. It was founded on December 7, 1922 by Luigi Bianchi, Vito Volterra, and most notably, Salvatore Pincherle, who became the Union's first P ...

(1924) * Founding Member,

History of Science Society The History of Science Society (HSS) is the primary professional society for the academic study of the history of science. It was founded in 1924 by George Sarton, David Eugene Smith, and Lawrence Joseph Henderson, primarily to support the public ...

(1924) * Honorary Member, Society of Sciences, Cluj, Roumania (1929) * Honorary Foreign Fellow, Masarykova Akademie Prace, Prague, Czecho-Slovakia (1930) * Membre Effective, Académie Internationale d'Historie des Sciences (1931) * Honorary Foreign Member,

Polish Mathematical Society The Polish Mathematical Society ( pl, Polskie Towarzystwo Matematyczne) is the main professional society of Polish mathematicians and represents Polish mathematics within the European Mathematical Society (EMS) and the International Mathematical Un ...

(1934) * Honorary Member,

New Brunswick Museum The New Brunswick Museum, located in Saint John, New Brunswick, is Canada's oldest continuing museum. The New Brunswick Museum was incorporated as the "Provincial Museum" in 1929 and received its current name in 1930, but its history goes back muc ...

(1946) * Honorary Member,

(England) (1949)

Editorships

* Associate editor, ''

Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society The ''Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society'' is a quarterly mathematical journal published by the American Mathematical Society. Scope It publishes surveys on contemporary research topics, written at a level accessible to non-experts. I ...

'' (1913–20) * Editor-in-chief, ''

American Mathematical Monthly ''The American Mathematical Monthly'' is a mathematical journal founded by Benjamin Finkel in 1894. It is published ten times each year by Taylor & Francis for the Mathematical Association of America. The ''American Mathematical Monthly'' is an e ...

'' (1919–21); associate editor (1918–19) * Associate editor, Revue Semestrielles des Publications Mathématiques (1923–34) * Associate editor, ''

Isis Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingd ...

'' (1924–48) * Associate editor, ''

Scripta Mathematica ''Scripta Mathematica'' was a quarterly journal published by Yeshiva University devoted to the philosophy, history, and expository treatment of mathematics. It was said to be, at its time, "the only mathematical magazine in the world edited by spe ...

'' (1932–49) * Founder and editor, ''Mathematical Tables and Other Aids to Computation'' (1943–49) * Co-founder and editor, ''Eudemes''

Bibliography

Archibald's bibliography contains over 1,000 entries. He contributed to over 20 different journals, mathematical, scientific, educational and literary. The following are the books of which he is an author: * Margaret Gordon, Lady Bannerman, Carlyle's First Love, John Lane, 1910, *

Euclid Euclid (; grc-gre, Wikt:Εὐκλείδης, Εὐκλείδης; BC) was an ancient Greek mathematician active as a geometer and logician. Considered the "father of geometry", he is chiefly known for the ''Euclid's Elements, Elements'' trea ...

's Book on Divisions of Figures: (Peri diairéseon biblion): with a restoration based on Woepcke's text and on the Practica geometriae of Leonardo Pisano, Cambridge University Press, 1916, * The Training of Teachers of Mathematics for the Secondary Schools of the Countries Represented in the International Commission on the Teaching of Mathematics, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1917 *

Benjamin Peirce Benjamin Peirce (; April 4, 1809 – October 6, 1880) was an American mathematician who taught at Harvard University for approximately 50 years. He made contributions to celestial mechanics, statistics, number theory, algebra, and the philoso ...

, 1809–1880. Biographical Sketch and Bibliography, Mathematical Association of America, 1925 * Bibliography of Egyptian and Babylonian Mathematics, Plandome Press, 1929 * History of Mathematics,

, 1931 * Outline of the History of Mathematics, The Lancaster Press, 1932 * Bibliography of the Life and Works of

, J. Hope and & Sons, 1932 * A Semicentennial History of the

, American Mathematical Society, 1938, * Mary Mellish Archibald Memory Library Guide for Students and Scholars, Mount Allison University, 1935–46 * Mathematical Table Makers, Scripta Mathematica, 1948 * Geometrical Constructions with a Ruler,

, 1950 * Historical Notes on the Education of Women at Mount Allison, 1854–1954, Mount Allison University, 1954 * Famous Problems of Elementary Geometry, Dover, 1955 *

Biographies

* Biographisch-Literarisches Handwörterbuch zur Geschichte der Exacten Wissenschaften Enthaltend Nachweisungen über Lebensverhältnisse und Leitstunger von Mathematikern, Astronomen, Physikern, Chemikern, Mineralogen, Geologen usw. aller Völker und Zeiten ("Poggendorff"), 1904/22 and 1923/31 * American Men of Science, 1905 though 1955 * The Canadian Men and Women of the Time, 1912 * Who's Who in Science, International, 1913 * Who's Who in America, 1914/15 though 1954/55 * Who's Who, 1922 though 1955 * Encyclopædia Britannica, 1929 * Who's Who in American Education, 1935/36, with portrait * The Compendium of American Genealogy, First Families of America, 1937 * The Canadian Who's Who, 1937/38 though 1952/54 * Who's Who in New England, 1916, 1938, 1948 * The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1938 * Who's Who Among North American Authors, 1927/28 though 1936/40 * Leaders in Education: A Biographical Directory, 1941 * Directory of American Scholars. A Biographical Directory, 1942 * Who's Who in the East, 1948 though 1953 * World Biography, 1948 and 1954 * The Author's & Writer's Who's Who, 1949 * Who knows, and what, among authorities, experts, and the specially informed, 1949 * The International Who is Who in Music, 1951 * The New Century Cyclopedia of Names, 1954 * Who Was Who. 1951–1960, 1964 * Who Was Who in America. 1951–1960, 1964. * International Personal Bibliographie, 1800—1943 * Enciclopedia Universal Ilustrada Europeo-Americana, Madrid, 1905—1930 * Internationale Bibliographie der Zeitschriftenliteratur aus allen Gebieten des Wissens * A Bio-Bibliographical Finding List of Canadian Musicians * Isis Cumulative Bibliography
MacTutor
* Harvard College Class of 1896. Fiftieth Anniversary Report, 1946

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Archibald, Raymond Clare Brown University faculty 19th-century American mathematicians 20th-century American mathematicians Canadian mathematicians Harvard University alumni Humboldt University of Berlin alumni Mount Allison University alumni Presidents of the Mathematical Association of America American historians of mathematics History of mathematics Mathematical tables 1875 births 1955 deaths Canadian expatriates in the United States Canadian expatriates in Germany The American Mathematical Monthly editors