Edward G. Begle

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Edward Griffith Begle (born November 27, 1914 in Saginaw , Michigan , † March 2, 1978 in Palo Alto ) was an American mathematician (topology) and mathematics teacher. He headed the School Mathematics Study Group (SMSG) at Stanford University , which was formed in 1958 as a result of the Sputnik shock and which lasted until 1977. He was instrumental in the introduction of new mathematics in the USA.

life and work

Begle studied mathematics at the University of Michigan with a bachelor's degree in 1936 and a master's degree in 1938. His teacher there was Raymond Wilder , who taught him topology. He received his doctorate in 1940 under Solomon Lefschetz at Princeton University ( Locally Connected Spaces and Generalized Manifolds ). In 1940/41 he was at Yale University and in 1941/42 again at the University of Michigan with a grant from the National Science Foundation. In 1942 he became an instructor at Yale, in 1944 an assistant professor and in 1949 an associate professor. In addition to his work on topology, he became known for a novel introductory textbook in analysis (published in 1954), which was not aimed at experts but at beginners, but at the same time was mathematically oriented and did not primarily focus on applications. It grew out of the Freshman Course in Analysis that he held at Yale. In 1958 he took over the management of the newly founded SMSG. There, mathematics curricula and textbooks (as well as films, teaching materials, teacher support material) were developed for all grade levels (starting in kindergarten). In doing so, they attached great importance to basic concepts which structurally permeate all mathematics (New Math). In 1961 he became a professor at the School of Education and at the same time in the mathematics faculty at Stanford University . In 1969 he gave a widely acclaimed lecture at the first International Congress on Mathematical Education (The Role of Research in the Improvement of Mathematics Education). The new mathematics came early as the 1960s in the United States (and elsewhere) with strong criticism and peaked in the 1960s and 1970s, which then gave way to a more balanced view. Begle was scientifically active until his sudden death from emphysema . One of his major works (Critical Variables in Mathematics Education) appeared posthumously.

In algebraic topology, the theorem of Vietoris-Begle is named after him and Leopold Vietoris (Begle generalized the mapping theorem of Vietoris 1950).

From 1951 he was secretary of the American Mathematical Society for six years . In 1960 he became a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science . In 1969 he received the Award of Distinguished Service to Mathematics from the Mathematical Association of America (MAA). 1962 to 1966 (1963 to 1966 as chairman) and 1970 to 1974 he was in the Commission on Mathematical Instruction of the USA. From 1975 to 1978 he was on the Executive Committee of the International Commission on Mathematical Instruction . In 1971 he received the Rosenberger Medal from the University of Chicago .

Jeremy Kilpatrick is one of his students .

In 1937 he married Elise Alkin Pierce, with whom he had seven children.

Fonts

  • Introductory calculus, with analytic geometry. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1954. (2nd edition 1960)
  • Freshman mathematics at Yale University. National Science Foundation, Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College, 1955.
  • Lectures on experimental programs in collegiate mathematics. National Science Foundation, Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College, 1955.
  • Cooperative research project no. F-037: Final report. In: I. Conference on Mathematics Education for Below Average Achievers. II. Writing experience for potential ... participation in a group writing project. Stanford University Press, 1964.
  • as editor: The Role of Axiomatics and Problem Solving in Mathematics. Ginn, Boston 1966.
  • SMSG: the first decade. In: The Mathematics Teacher. Volume 61, March 1968, pp. 239-245.
  • The role of research in the improvement of mathematics education. In: Educational Studies in Mathematics. Volume 2, 1969, pp. 232-244.
  • Calculus. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1971.
  • Teacher knowledge and student achievement in algebra. School Mathematics Study Group, 1972.
  • Teacher effectiveness in mathematics instruction. (= NLSMA reports. 27). 1972.
  • The prediction of mathematics achievement. (= NLSMA reports ). SMSG, Stanford 1972.
  • The mathematics of the elementary school. McGraw-Hill, 1975.
  • Critical Variables in Mathematics Education: Findings from a Survey of the Empirical Literature. MAA, 1979.
Working on topology
  • Locally connected spaces and generalized manifolds. In: American Journal of Mathematics. Volume 64, 1942, pp. 386-387.
  • The Vietoris mapping theorem for bicompact spaces. In: Annals of Mathematics. Volume 51, 1950, pp. 534-543.

literature

  • BJ Pettis: Award for Distinguished Service to Professor Edward Griffith Begle. In: American Mathematical Monthly. Volume 76, 1969, pp. 1-2.
  • W. Wooten: SMSG: The making of a curriculum. Yale University Press, New Haven 1965.
  • M. Zelinka: Edward Griffith Begle. In: American Mathematical Monthly. Volume 85, 1978, pp. 629-631 (obituary).
  • B. Demott: The math wars. In: American Scholar. Spring 1962, pp. 296-310. (Reprinted in RW Heath (ed.): New curricula. Harper & Row, New York 1964, pp. 54-67).
  • G. Goodman Jr: Prof. Edward G. Begle, chief proponent of 'new math'. In: The New York Times. March 3, 1978 (obituary)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Edward G. Begle in the Mathematics Genealogy Project (English)Template: MathGenealogyProject / Maintenance / id used
  2. ^ Statements by mathematicians and mathematics teachers compiled by the Conference Board of the Mathematical Sciences at the request of the United States Commission on Mathematical Instruction for presentation to the International Commission on Mathematical Instruction before the ICM 1966 in Moscow
personal data
SURNAME Begle, Edward G.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Begle, Edward Griffith (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American math educator
DATE OF BIRTH November 27, 1914
PLACE OF BIRTH Saginaw , Michigan
DATE OF DEATH March 2, 1978
Place of death Palo Alto