West Point and the Hudson River Valley

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West Point and the Hudson River Valley

• V. Frederick Rickey
• Professor of Mathematics
• United States Military Academy
• 16 February 2005

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Why is West Point where it is?
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George Washington andTadeusz Kosciuszko
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• Professor Baron furnished me with Dr. Hutton's
  Mathematics, and gave me a specimen of his mode
  of teaching at the blackboard at the academy.
• Joseph G. Swift, first graduate of West Point.
• First use in US?

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Eleazer Derby Wood, USMA 1806
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Sylvanus Thayer, USMA 1808

• Assistant Professor of Mathematics, USMA,
  1809-1811
• Superintendent, USMA, 1817-1833
• Father of the Military Academy

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Thayer Went to France, 1815-17

• Visited the Ecole Polytechnique in France
• Brought back 1000 technical books, maps, and
  ideas about teaching

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The Thayer Method of Teaching

• Cadets read no lectures
• Every cadet is graded every day
• Small sections of 10-12
• Sections grouped by performance

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Charles Davies (1807-1878)

• USMA 1815
• Dept Head 1823-37
• Published 49 books
• 492 printings/edns
• By 1875 he was selling 350,000 books per year

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Some Problems from Davies

• By the census of 1850, New York had a population
  of 3087695 upon an area of 46085 square miles
  what was the population to the square mile?
• By what number must 7/9 be multiplied, that the
  product may be 14/15?
• If a single rail, of a railroad, be 9 feet in
  length, how many rails would be required for a
  road, whose length is 12 mi. 5 fur. 3 rd. 4 yd.?

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Robert Parker Parrott, USMA 1824
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Delafield rifled 3-inch cannon
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Oliver Otis Howard, USMA 1854

• Civil War General
• Founder of Howard University in Washington, DC

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Robert Edward Lee, USMA 1829

• Taught mathematics as a cadet
• Superintendent at West Point 1848-1852
• Civil War General

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Montgomery Meigs, USMA 1836

• Built the wings and dome of the Capitol
• Quartermaster during the Civil War

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George Armstrong Custer, USMA 1861

• Last in his class
• The Youngest General

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Henry Ossian FlipperUSMA 1877

• First Black Graduate

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George W. Goethels, USMA 1880

• Built the Panama Canal

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The first Army-Navy football game, 1890. Navy
won, 24-0.
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Resectioning in 1899

• This 1890 copy of Davies Algebra and
  Trigonometry was owned by U.S. Grant (USMA 1903).
  He was first in the second section and then moved
  to 5th in 1st - behind Douglas MacArthur.

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• Ulysses S. Grant (USMA 1843) applied four times
  to become an instructor in Mathematics, but was
  turned down. Prof Church believed Grants
  mediocre performance in mathematics did not
  qualify him to teach in the department.
• This demonstrates that it is easier to become
  President than to become an instructor in the
  Department of Mathematical Sciences.

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Douglas MacArthur, USMA 1903

• In my dreams I hear again the crash of guns, the
  rattle of musketry, the strange, mournful mutter
  of the battlefield. But in the evening of my
  memory I come back to West Point. Always there
  echoes and re-echoes Duty, Honor, Country.
• May 12, 1962

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Omar Bradley and Dwight EisenhowerUSMA 1915
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Women at USMA R-Day 1976

• 631 applied for the class of 1980 (of 6761)
• 176 were found qualified
• 148 offered admissions
• 116 entered in June 1976
• Today 15 of the class are women

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87 Women Graduated in 1980
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COL Kathi Snook

• Graduated 1980
• 1987 MA in applied math
• 1987-1991 rotator in mathematics
• 1997 Ed.D., Boston University
• 2002 Retired from the Army

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How do you get your hat back?
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USMA Mission

• To educate, train, and inspire the Corps of
  Cadets so that each graduate is a commissioned
  leader of character committed to the values of
  Duty, Honor, Country professional growth
  throughout a career as an officer in the United
  States Army and a lifetime of selfless service
  to the nation.