Abstract
This chapter describes the authors’ principal data set (PDS) for the study. This data set, which comprises 212 cyphering books, each of which was prepared between 1701 and 1861, is the largest single collection of cyphering books in the nation. In Chapter 5, questions associated with where and when the cyphering books were prepared, and by whom, are considered in the light of the author’s analyses of their PDS. It is noted that the number of students preparing cyphering books fell sharply between 1840 and 1861, and the question is raised: Why did that happen?
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Ellerton, N., Clements, M.K. (2012). The Principal Data Set. In: Rewriting the History of School Mathematics in North America 1607-1861. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2639-0_5
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