- Paperback: 520 pages
- Publisher: University of Chicago Press; 2nd edition (8 July 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0226873757
- ISBN-13: 978-0226873756
- Product Dimensions: 2.3 x 1.5 x 0.3 cm
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 556,001 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
When Isaac Newton published the "Principia" three centuries ago, only a few scholars were capable of understanding his conceptually demanding work. Yet this esoteric knowledge quickly became accessible in the 19th and early 20th centuries, when Britain produced many leading mathematical physicists. In this book, Andrew Warwick shows how the education of these "masters of theory" led them to transform our understanding of everything from the flight of a boomerang to the structure of the universe. Warwick focuses on Cambridge University, where many of the best physicists trained. He begins by tracing the dramatic changes in undergraduate education there since the 18th century, especially the gradual emergence of the private tutor as the most important teacher of mathematics. Next he explores the material culture of mathematics instruction, showing how the humble pen and paper so crucial to this study transformed everything from classroom teaching to final examinations. Balancing their intense intellectual work with strenuous physical exercise, the students themselves - known as the "Wranglers" - helped foster the competitive spirit that drove them in the classroom and informed the Victorian ideal of a manly student. Finally, by investigating several historical "cases", such as the reception of Albert Einstein's special and general theories of relativity, Warwick shows how the production, transmission and reception of new knowledge was profoundly shaped by the skills taught to Cambridge undergraduates. Drawing on a wealth of new archival evidence and illustrations, "Master of Theory" examines the origins of a cultural tradition through which the complex world of theoretical physics was made commonplace.
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First Sentence
At 9 A.M. on 3 January 1876, J.H. Poynting (3W 1876) and around a hundred of his undergraduate peers concluded their mathematical studies at Cambridge by embarking on nine days of gruelling examination in the University Senate House. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
At 9 A.M. on 3 January 1876, J.H. Poynting (3W 1876) and around a hundred of his undergraduate peers concluded their mathematical studies at Cambridge by embarking on nine days of gruelling examination in the University Senate House. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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3 reviews
13 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Rearch is good; exposition is bad.
9 Jun 2003
Format:Paperback
I especially like the original research that the author did to write the book. His use of examination papers seems to be a novel method and yields good analyses. The gems of his research cannot be found elsewhere in the form. However, his writing style is rather bad. He really likes to repeat things. His sentences and paragraphs are loosely structured. Honestly, I believe that if he write in a more succinct style, the book can be five times shorter and five times more pleasant to read at the same time. Furthermore, there are a lot of typos - I would say about one or two every 20 pages. Anyhow, the book is worth reading if you are an avid reader of the history of the sciences.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
A Fantastic Eye-Opener For College Science Teachers
25 July 2009
Format:Paperback
A recreational read this book is not. However, if you hang in there, bit by bit a truly wonderful story of the history science teaching in the English college system emerges. Here is a detailed description of the origins of "homework" and "end-of-the-chapter" problems! The whole teaching approach to science, which is a problem-solving approach, was developed at Cambridge in the early 1800's. Probably a similar tact was taken in German and French schools too.
I found the descriptions of the "wrangler" system that ranked students by exam scores, the nine-day examinations, the required walks taken by students and tutors, and all that, to be fascinating.
This book was favorably reviewed in Science magazine when it was published, which is how I got onto it.
-a university chemistry professor
I found the descriptions of the "wrangler" system that ranked students by exam scores, the nine-day examinations, the required walks taken by students and tutors, and all that, to be fascinating.
This book was favorably reviewed in Science magazine when it was published, which is how I got onto it.
-a university chemistry professor
1 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Disclosure: I have had a love hate relationship with this book
28 Jan 2008
Format:Paperback
This is my third major rewrite of my review on this book. So far...
1st review was ***** (5 stars)
2nd review was * (1 star)
3rd (this) review is ***** (5 stars)
Turns out that book shows that a respect for manual labor and working with one's own hands were probably as important to Masters of theory such as James Clerk Max as were their razor sharp minds. Recommend some of the major works by the Dutch Historian Reijer Hooykaas to understand reference to respect for working with one's own hands. (At first I thought this book was taking us down the dark road scientific materialism of Marxist-Lenism, but Hooykaas reveals that I was completely mistaken.)
1st review was ***** (5 stars)
2nd review was * (1 star)
3rd (this) review is ***** (5 stars)
Turns out that book shows that a respect for manual labor and working with one's own hands were probably as important to Masters of theory such as James Clerk Max as were their razor sharp minds. Recommend some of the major works by the Dutch Historian Reijer Hooykaas to understand reference to respect for working with one's own hands. (At first I thought this book was taking us down the dark road scientific materialism of Marxist-Lenism, but Hooykaas reveals that I was completely mistaken.)
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