How did people learn geometry in Georgian England? It was different than in our own time, to be sure. This feature from Loci, the online publication of the MAA Mathematical Sciences Digital Library offers a bit of detail on the matter, courtesy of the geometry copybook of a boy named Thomas Porcher. This particular feature was written by Benjamin Wardhaugh from the University of Oxford. In the six-part feature, Wardhaugh looks into why such a boy would learn geometry and also what the existing texts were at the time. The article contains sections like "Geometry and Measuring" and "Geometry and Practical Geometry." It's a fascinating study, and one that will be intriguing to those with a penchant for the history of mathematics and pedagogy.
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