Ida Martha Metcalf

Ida Martha Metcalf (born August 26, 1857 in Texas , United States , † October 24, 1952 in Northampton ) was an American mathematician . She was the first woman to graduate from Cornell University in 1893 and the second American to earn a PhD in mathematics.

life and work

Metcalf moved from Texas to New England with her mother and siblings after the death of her father. In 1870 she lived in Massachusetts , where she taught in school for many years. In 1883 she began to study at Boston University and in 1886 received a bachelor's degree in philosophy . From 1888 to 1889 she studied at Cornell University and earned a master's degree in mathematics. After teaching at the Bryn Mawr School in Baltimore , she returned to Cornell and received her PhD there in 1893 with James Edward Oliver magna cum laude with the dissertation: Geometric Duality in Space. After that, she taught in high schools for many years, worked in various financial companies and as a public service auditor. From 1912 to 1921 she worked as a statistician in the Treasury Department of New York City . In 1930 she lived in Jamestown, Rhode Island , and worked intermittently in the civil service until 1939. Starting with the outbreak of a serious illness in 1948, she lived in nursing homes until her death.

Theses

• 1886 The origin and development of styles of architecture. PhB thesis, Boston University.
• 1889 The theory of illumination by reflected and refracted light. MS thesis, Cornell University, Handwritten.
• 1893 Geometric duality in space. PhD dissertation, Cornell University, Printed by ED Norton, Ithaca, NY.

literature

• Judy Green, Jeanne LaDuke: Pioneering women in American mathematics: the pre-1940 PhD's . American Mathematical Society, Providence, RI 2009, ISBN 978-0-8218-4376-5 (English).
  • Judy Green, Jeanne Laduke: METCALF, Ida M. In: American Mathematical Society (Ed.): Supplementary Material For Pioneering Women In American Mathematics: ThePre-1940 PHD's . January 15, 2016, p. 425 (English, 674 pages, download [PDF; 2.9 MB ; accessed on August 15, 2020] Additional information (supplement) to the book).
• Walter Eells: American doctoral dissertations on mathematics and astronomy written by women in the nineteenth century. In: Mathematics Teacher, May 1957, p. 374.
• David E. Zitarelli: A history of mathematics in the United States and Canada . Volume 1. 1492-1930. tape 1 . MAA Press (Imprint of the American Mathematical Society), Providence, Rhode Island 2019, ISBN 978-1-4704-4829-5 (English).

Web links

• Larry Riddle: Ida Martha Metcalf. In: Biographies of Women Mathematicians. Agnes Scott College, February 20, 2020 (English, biography). 
• Ida Martha Metcalf. In: Mathematics Genealogy Project . North Dakota State University - Department of Mathematics(English, dissertation). 
• Papers of Mary Elizabeth Williams, 1933-1976. In: HOLLIS for Archival Discovery. Harvard Library(English, content: Correspondence, biographies, research materials, etc., of Mary Elizabeth Williams, mathematician. In: Schlesinger Library , Radcliffe College ).