Chapter 3: Steps In The History Of The Geometry Curriculum

In looking back through the history of the geometry curriculum inthe United States, one is struck by its relative constancy,particularly with respect to the dramatic changes that haveoccurred in other areas of society, and even education. One isalso struck by the variety of influences that have nudged thegeometry curriculum in certain directions—small and slow-moving as those nudges may be. For instance, we will see that the appointment of Claude Crozet in 1817 to the West Point Military Academy began an invasion of French mathematics: The geometry textbook of Adrien-Marie Legendre—and textbooks were the defining curriculum then—began taking the place of Euclid at the American universities, and the influence of the British waned. Naturally, policy decisions were at times also an important source of nudging, such as on the occasion of the College Entrance Board Examination report of 1959, which, arriving post-Sputnik, encountered an unusually receptive audience. While it is unwise to trace changes back to single events, such as academic appointments or policy reports, such events can often provide a useful way of analyzing and assessing the development of the intended geometry curriculum—and of setting up signposts that can structure a historical report such as this. Figure 3.1 provides a brief graphic timeline of the notable events identified in the monograph. To begin, I will paint a picture of the state of the geometry curriculum in the United States prior to the middle of the nineteenth century.