West Point and the Hudson River Valley

V. Frederick RickeyProfessor of Mathematics

United States Military Academy

16 February 2005

Why is West Point where it is?

George Washington and

Tadeusz Kościuszko

Professor Baron furnished me with Dr. Hutton's Mathematics, and gave me a specimen of his mode of teaching at the blackboard at the academy.

Joseph G. Swift, first graduate of West Point.

First use in US?

Eleazer Derby Wood, USMA 1806

Sylvanus Thayer, USMA 1808

• Assistant Professor of Mathematics, USMA, 1809-1811

• Superintendent, USMA, 1817-1833

• “Father of the Military Academy”

Thayer Went to France, 1815-17

• Visited the Ecole Polytechnique in France

• Brought back 1000 technical books, maps, and ideas about teaching

The Thayer Method of Teaching

• Cadets read; no lectures

• Every cadet is graded every day

• Small sections of 10-12

• Sections grouped by performance

Charles Davies (1807-1878)

• USMA 1815• Dept Head 1823-37• Published 49 books• 492 printings/edn’s• By 1875 he was

selling 350,000 books per year

Some Problems from Davies

• By the census of 1850, New York had a population of 3087695 upon an area of 46085 square miles: what was the population to the square mile?

• By what number must 7/9 be multiplied, that the product may be 14/15?

• If a single rail, of a railroad, be 9 feet in length, how many rails would be required for a road, whose length is 12 mi. 5 fur. 3 rd. 4 yd.?

Robert Parker Parrott, USMA 1824

Delafield rifled 3-inch cannon

Oliver Otis Howard, USMA 1854

• Civil War General

• Founder of Howard University in Washington, DC

Robert Edward Lee, USMA 1829

• Taught mathematics as a cadet

• Superintendent at West Point 1848-1852

• Civil War General

Montgomery Meigs, USMA 1836

• Built the wings and dome of the Capitol

• Quartermaster during the Civil War

George Armstrong Custer, USMA 1861

• Last in his class

• The Youngest General

Henry Ossian FlipperUSMA 1877

• First Black Graduate

George W. Goethels, USMA 1880

• Built the Panama Canal

The first Army-Navy football game, 1890. Navy won, 24-0.

Resectioning in 1899

• This 1890 copy of Davies’ Algebra and Trigonometry was owned by U.S. Grant (USMA 1903). He was first in the second section and then moved to 5th in 1st ─ behind Douglas MacArthur.

• Ulysses S. Grant (USMA 1843) applied four times to become an instructor in Mathematics, but was turned down. Prof Church believed Grant’s mediocre performance in mathematics did not qualify him to teach in the department.

• This demonstrates that it is easier to become President than to become an instructor in the Department of Mathematical Sciences.

Douglas MacArthur, USMA 1903

• In my dreams I hear again the crash of guns, the rattle of musketry, the strange, mournful mutter of the battlefield. But in the evening of my memory I come back to West Point. Always there echoes and re-echoes: Duty, Honor, Country.

• May 12, 1962

Omar Bradley and Dwight Eisenhower

USMA 1915

Women at USMA: R-Day 1976

• 631 applied for the class of 1980 (of 6761)

• 176 were found qualified• 148 offered admissions• 116 entered in June 1976

• Today 15% of the class are women

87 Women Graduated in 1980

COL Kathi Snook

• Graduated 1980• 1987: MA in applied

math• 1987-1991: “rotator” in

mathematics• 1997: Ed.D., Boston

University• 2002: Retired from the

Army

How do you get your hat back?

USMA Mission

To educate, train, and inspire the Corps of Cadets so that each graduate is a commissioned leader of character committed to the values of Duty, Honor, Country; professional growth throughout a career as an officer in the United States Army; and a lifetime of selfless service to the nation.