Helen Abbot Merrill

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Helen Abbot Merrill (born March 30, 1864 in Llewellyn Park Orange (New Jersey) , † May 2, 1949 in Wellesley , Massachusetts ) was an American mathematician and university professor.

Life and research

Merrill was born the fifth of seven children to Emily Dodge (Abbot) (1830-1889) and George Merrill and attended public schools in Newburyport and New Brunswick . She studied mathematics, Greek, Latin, science, history at Wellesley College and received her bachelor's degree in 1886 . She then taught at the Classical School for Girls in New York City from 1886 to 1889 and at the Walnut Lane School in Germantown (Philadelphia) from 1891 to 1893 . From 1889 to 1891 she volunteered for the Dutch Reformed Church in New Brunswick. From 1893 to 1901, in addition to studying mathematics, she was an instructor at Wellesley College and from 1896 to 1997 doctoral candidate at the University of Chicago . In 1901 she was promoted to associate professor and received a leave of absence from 1901 to 1902 to study in Göttingen and to travel to England and Italy. In 1903 she did her doctorate with James P. Pierpont at Yale University with the dissertation: Solutions of Differential Equations Which Possess an Oscillation Theorem. In 1915 she was promoted to full professor at Wellesley College and remained chairman of the department until her retirement in 1932. From 1914-15 she was on leave of absence to attend the Napier Conference in Edinburgh and to travel to Great Britain, Canada and the United States; In 1915 she attended a summer session at the University of California . From 1922 to 1923 she was on leave to work in English university libraries and to travel to France and Italy. She joined the AMS in 1903 and was added to the membership list in 1904 as a lifelong member. She was Associate Editor of the American Mathematical Monthly from 1916 to 1919 , a member of the Executive Council from 1917 to 1920, and Vice President of the Mathematical Association of America from 1920 to 1921. She was also the author and co-author of three mathematics textbooks that she co-authored with colleague Clara Eliza Smith . She also wrote mathematical poems and songs. She died in her Wellesley home in 1949 and was buried in the Chapel of Wellesley College. A special AMS fund was set up from her estate, which was "to be used in the interests of mathematical research". In 1971 the description of the Fund was changed to "for the use of the Company at the discretion of the governing bodies" (Bull. Amer. Math. Soc. 56).

Memberships

Publications (selection)

  • 1903: On solutions of differential equations which possess an oscillation theorem. Trans. Amer. Math. Soc. 4th
  • 1914: with CE Smith. Selected Topics in College Algebra. Norwood, Mass .: Norwood Press.
  • 1917: with CE Smith.:A First Course in Higher Algebra. New York: Macmillan Co.
  • 1918: Why students fail in mathematics. Math. Teacher 11: 45-56.
  • 1926: So let me work: a poem. Math Teacher 19:99.
  • 1932: Three mathematical songs: Conic sections, Sing a song of 6 points, Greek and mathematics. Math. Teacher 25: 36-37.
  • 1933: Mathematical Excursions: Side Trips along Paths Not Generally Traveled in Elementary Courses in Mathematics. Norwood, Mass .: Norwood Press. Reviews: Amer. Math. Monthly 40
  • 1936: Some undergraduate memories. Wellesley Magazine 20 (5): 52-56.
  • 1942: with ME Stark. A mathematical contest. Amer. Math. Monthly 49: 191-92.
  • 1946: When teaching stops. Wellesley Magazine 30 (4): 247.

literature

  • "Helen A. Merrill of Wellesley, 85." New York Times, May 3, 1949.
  • Young, Mabel M .: "Helen Abbot Merrill." Wellesley Magazine 16 (Jun 1932): 405-6. Book Web Page MERRILL, HA - 4
  • Young, Mabel M., Marion E. Stark, Helen G. Russell: "Helen A. Merrill." Wellesley Magazine 33 (Jul 1949): 353-54.
  • "Helen Abbot Merrill." Yale University Obituary Record 1948-1949, 142.
  • Henrion, Claudia: “Helen Abbot Merrill.” In Women of Mathematics: A Biobibliographic Sourcebook, eds. Louise S. Grinstein and Paul J. Campbell 147-51. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1987.
  • Oystein Ore: “James Pierpont – In Memoriam,” Bull. Amer. Math. Soc. 45, 1939.
  • Green, Judy and Jeanne LaDuke. "Women in American Mathematics: A Century of Contributions," in A Century of Mathematics in America, Part II, Peter Duren, Editor, American Mathematical Society, 1989.
  • Helen Brewster Owens Papers. Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe College.
  • Woman's Who's Who of America: A Biographical Dictionary of Contemporary Women of the United States and Canada 1914–1915, John William Leonard, Editor, American Commonwealth Co., 1914.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Merrill, Helen Abbot
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Merrill, Helen Dept.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American mathematician and university professor
DATE OF BIRTH March 30, 1864
PLACE OF BIRTH Llewellyn Park Orange, New Jersey
DATE OF DEATH May 2, 1949
Place of death Wellesley , Massachusetts