Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Foreword
- Acknowledgments
- Contents
- The Mystery of the Four-leaf Clovers
- A Fugue
- Tombstone Inscriptions
- The Two Lights
- MMM
- Acquiring Some Personal Items for MMM
- Difficulty in Explaining Relativity Theory in a Few Words
- Difficulty in Obtaining a Cup of Hot Tea
- Hail to Thee, Blithe Spirit
- C. D.
- Cupid's Problem
- The Lighter Life of an Editor
- The Two Kellys
- Some Debts
- Hypnotic Powers
- Founding the Echols Mathematics Club
- Meeting Maurice Fréchet
- Mathematizing the New Mathematics Building
- Finding Some Lost Property Corners
- The Tennessee Valley Authority
- How I First Met Dr. Einstein
- Catching Vibes, and Kindred Matters
- A Pair of Unusual Walking Sticks
- A New Definition
- Dr. Einstein's First Public Address at Princeton
- Parting Advice
- Two Newspaper Items and a Phone Call
- Wherein the Author Is Beasted
- The Scholar's Creed
- The Perfect Game of Solitaire
- The Most Seductive Book Ever Written
- The Master Geometer
- Sandy
- The Perfect Parabola
- Three Coolidge Remarks
- Professor Coolidge during Examinations
- Professor Coolidge's Test
- Borrowing Lecture Techniques from Admired Professors
- My Teaching Assistant Appointment
- A Night in the Widener Memorial Library
- The Slit in the Wall
- Nathan Altshiller Court
- An Editorial Comment
- Intimations of the Future
- A Rival Field
- A Chinese Lesson
- The Bookbag
- Running a Mile in Twenty-one Seconds
- Winning the 1992 Pólya Award
- A Love Story
- Eves' Photo Album
- A Condensed Biography of Howard Eves
- An Abridged Bibliography of Howard Eves' Work
The Scholar's Creed
- Frontmatter
- Foreword
- Acknowledgments
- Contents
- The Mystery of the Four-leaf Clovers
- A Fugue
- Tombstone Inscriptions
- The Two Lights
- MMM
- Acquiring Some Personal Items for MMM
- Difficulty in Explaining Relativity Theory in a Few Words
- Difficulty in Obtaining a Cup of Hot Tea
- Hail to Thee, Blithe Spirit
- C. D.
- Cupid's Problem
- The Lighter Life of an Editor
- The Two Kellys
- Some Debts
- Hypnotic Powers
- Founding the Echols Mathematics Club
- Meeting Maurice Fréchet
- Mathematizing the New Mathematics Building
- Finding Some Lost Property Corners
- The Tennessee Valley Authority
- How I First Met Dr. Einstein
- Catching Vibes, and Kindred Matters
- A Pair of Unusual Walking Sticks
- A New Definition
- Dr. Einstein's First Public Address at Princeton
- Parting Advice
- Two Newspaper Items and a Phone Call
- Wherein the Author Is Beasted
- The Scholar's Creed
- The Perfect Game of Solitaire
- The Most Seductive Book Ever Written
- The Master Geometer
- Sandy
- The Perfect Parabola
- Three Coolidge Remarks
- Professor Coolidge during Examinations
- Professor Coolidge's Test
- Borrowing Lecture Techniques from Admired Professors
- My Teaching Assistant Appointment
- A Night in the Widener Memorial Library
- The Slit in the Wall
- Nathan Altshiller Court
- An Editorial Comment
- Intimations of the Future
- A Rival Field
- A Chinese Lesson
- The Bookbag
- Running a Mile in Twenty-one Seconds
- Winning the 1992 Pólya Award
- A Love Story
- Eves' Photo Album
- A Condensed Biography of Howard Eves
- An Abridged Bibliography of Howard Eves' Work
Summary
There were three of us in our sophomore year at the Eastside High School of Paterson, New Jersey, who got to be known as the three math nuts. We were Al (Albert), Lou (Louis), and myself. We lived and breathed mathematics and were never happier than when we were struggling over some difficult mathematics problem.
We had been hearing a great deal about a remarkable branch of mathematics called “the calculus.” Though today it is not uncommon to find a beginning course in calculus taught in high school, back then the practice was unheard of, and one had to await the sophomore year in college before being able to take the course. We just couldn't wait that long, and so we decided to learn the subject on our own. Now by far the most-used calculus book in those days was Granville's Calculus. What a mint of royalties that book must have earned, for it was the book almost universally adopted in the colleges throughout the country. We accordingly ordered three copies of the famous book and, at bi-weekly evening meetings at one another's home, we began teaching the subject to ourselves.
I know that today one is supposed to make disparaging remarks about the Granville calculus book, but I shall never be able to do this, for I admired and enjoyed the book enormously and learned a great deal from it.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Mathematical Reminiscences , pp. 111 - 118Publisher: Mathematical Association of AmericaPrint publication year: 2001