The Development Of Calculus Textbooks And The Spread Of Symbols In The Late Qing Dynasty And The Republic Of China(1859-1934)

Mathematical symbols are a special kind of symbols used in mathematical sciences.It is an abstract scientific language with highly generalized meaning and highly concentrated form.Specifically,mathematical symbols are a special mathematical language formed by the entire mathematical process such as mathematical concepts,formulas,propositions,reasoning,and logical relations.Make the mathematical thinking process more accurate,more concise,more intuitive,and easier to reveal the essence of mathematical image.Mathematical symbols are not propagated in isolation,but need some carrier,which is often a textbook.So the study of symbols should begin with the analysis of the development of textbook content.Before 1906,China published more than 20 calculus textbooks.China's first calculus textbook,"Dai Wei Ji Shi Ji," was published in 1859,so the starting time of this study was set to1859.From 1906 to 1934,a total of 20 calculus textbooks were published.The mature and rigorous mature textbook "Gao Deng Suan Xue Fen Xi" was published in 1934,so the study's termination time was set to 1934.This research mainly adopts literature research method and comparative analysis method.The author first checked and sorted out the bibliography of calculus textbooks in the late Republic of China through research articles in calculus textbooks and books on the history of mathematics.Later,through the Confucius Bookstore,Ancient Books Network,and the University Digital Library International Cooperation Program,with the help of a mentor,more than 30 calculus textbooks during the period of the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China were searched,collected,and selected.Six calculus textbooks from three periods were used as research objects.In the dissertation,the six calculus textbooks are compared in detail from theconception of writing,the catalog,the problem set,and the terminology,and the development of the content of calculus textbooks in the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China is analyzed.This thesis is mainly based on the calculus textbook published from 1859-1934,and researches from the following two aspects:(1)Late Qing-Development of calculus textbook content in the Republic of China.Select six representative calculus textbooks from the late Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China,based on the comparison of writing concepts,catalogs,problem sets,and terminology comparisons,from the four dimensions of writing ideas,rich content,difficulty levels of exercises,and rigor of the theory.Analyze and present the development of calculus textbook content in the late Qing and early Republic of China.(2)Based on the symbols in 6 calculus textbooks,and refer to other calculus textbooks,sort out the early overseas spread of element symbols,operation symbols,and special symbols during the late Republic of China period,and sort out the earliest forms that appeared in calculus textbooks in China In this way,we can analyze the westernization of Chinese calculus symbol system.The research on the development of calculus content and the spread of calculus symbols can enrich the history of calculus propagation.