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This book examines the fundamental influence of the cyphering tradition on mathematics education in North American colleges, schools, and apprenticeship training classes between 1607 and 1861. It includes rare photos of original cyphering books.

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The focus of this book is the fundamental influence of the cyphering tradition on mathematics education in North American colleges, schools, and apprenticeship training classes between 1607 and 1861. It is the first book on the history of North American mathematics education to be written from that perspective. The principal data source is a set of 207 handwritten cyphering books that have never previously been subjected to careful historical analysis.

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Preface.- Table of Contents.- List of Tables.- List of Figures.- Abstract.- Foreword (by Jeremy Kilpatrick).- 1. The Historical Challenge.- 2. Development of a Tradition.- 3. Translating the Cyphering-Book Tradition to North America.- 4. Formulating the Research Questions.- 5. The Principal Data Set.- 6. Ending a 600-Year Tradition: The Demise of the Cypering-Book Approach.- 7. Conclusions, and some Final Comments.- References.- Appendices.

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From the reviews:
"This book shows that the authors see it as opening the way for further study, and indeed they include very carefully thought out questions for further research. ... Other students of life in Colonial North America will also find this a ´must read´ book ... . book is extensively referenced and represents a high level of scholarship. ... scholars of mathematics education and its history in North America will find this book a gold mine of information and questions for further research." (Robert George Stein, Educational Studies in Mathematics, Vol. 82, 2013)

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Dr. Nerida Ellerton has two doctoral qualifications: one in theoretical and physical chemistry, and one in mathematics education. She is an experienced teacher, with a specialist focus on mathematics, and has taught at elementary, secondary and college levels. She was Dean of the Faculty of Education at the University of Southern Queensland for four years, and is currently a full professor at Illinois State University in the Department of Mathematics.

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