Mathematical Tables Project
Encyclopedia
The Mathematical Tables Project was one of the largest and most sophisticated computing organizations that operated prior to the invention of the digital electronic computer. Begun in 1938 as a project of the Works Progress Administration
(WPA), it employed 450 out-of-work clerks to tabulate higher mathematical functions, such as exponential functions, logarithms, trigonometric functions. These tables eventually filled 28 volumes, which were published by Columbia University Press.
The group was led by a a group of mathematicians and physicists, most of whom had been unable to find professional work during the Depression. The mathematical leader was Gertrude Blanch
, who had just finished her doctorate in mathematics at Cornell. She had been unable to find a university position and was working at a photographic company before joining the project.
The administrative director was Arnold Lowan, who had a degree in Physics from Columbia and had spent a year at the Institute for Advanced Study
in Princeton before returning to New York without a job. Perhaps the most accomplished mathematician to be associated with the group was Cornelius Lanczos
, who had once served as an assistant to Einstein. He spent a year with the project and organized seminars on computation and applied mathematics at the project's office in Lower Manhattan.
In addition to computing tables of mathematical functions, the project did large computations for sciences, including the physicist Hans Bethe
and did calculations for a variety of war projects including tables for the LORAN navigation system, tables for microwave radar, bombing tables, and shock wave propagation tables.
The Mathematical Tables Project survived the termination of the WPA in 1943 and continued to operate in New York until 1948. At that point, roughly 25 members of the group moved to Washington, DC to become the Computation Laboratory of the National Bureau of Standards, now the National Institute for Standards and Technology. Gertrude Blanch moved to Los Angeles to lead the computing office of the Institute for Numerical Analysis at UCLA and Arnold Lowan joined the faculty of Yeshiva University in New York. The greatest legacy of the project is the "Handbook of Mathematical Functions"
, which was published 16 years after the group disbanded. Edited by two veterans of the project, Milton Abramowitz
and Irene Stegun
, it became a widely circulated mathematical and scientific reference.
Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration was the largest and most ambitious New Deal agency, employing millions of unskilled workers to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads, and operated large arts, drama, media, and literacy projects...
(WPA), it employed 450 out-of-work clerks to tabulate higher mathematical functions, such as exponential functions, logarithms, trigonometric functions. These tables eventually filled 28 volumes, which were published by Columbia University Press.
The group was led by a a group of mathematicians and physicists, most of whom had been unable to find professional work during the Depression. The mathematical leader was Gertrude Blanch
Gertrude Blanch
Gertrude Blanch was an American mathematician who did pioneering work in numerical analysis and computation.Blanch was born Gittel Kaimowitz in Kolno, Russia , arrived in the United States as a child, and attended public schools in New York City. She spent fourteen years as a clerk, saving money...
, who had just finished her doctorate in mathematics at Cornell. She had been unable to find a university position and was working at a photographic company before joining the project.
The administrative director was Arnold Lowan, who had a degree in Physics from Columbia and had spent a year at the Institute for Advanced Study
Institute for Advanced Study
The Institute for Advanced Study, located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States, is an independent postgraduate center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It was founded in 1930 by Abraham Flexner...
in Princeton before returning to New York without a job. Perhaps the most accomplished mathematician to be associated with the group was Cornelius Lanczos
Cornelius Lanczos
Cornelius Lanczos Löwy Kornél was a Hungarian-Jewish mathematician and physicist, who was born on February 2, 1893, and died on June 25, 1974....
, who had once served as an assistant to Einstein. He spent a year with the project and organized seminars on computation and applied mathematics at the project's office in Lower Manhattan.
In addition to computing tables of mathematical functions, the project did large computations for sciences, including the physicist Hans Bethe
Hans Bethe
Hans Albrecht Bethe was a German-American nuclear physicist, and Nobel laureate in physics for his work on the theory of stellar nucleosynthesis. A versatile theoretical physicist, Bethe also made important contributions to quantum electrodynamics, nuclear physics, solid-state physics and...
and did calculations for a variety of war projects including tables for the LORAN navigation system, tables for microwave radar, bombing tables, and shock wave propagation tables.
The Mathematical Tables Project survived the termination of the WPA in 1943 and continued to operate in New York until 1948. At that point, roughly 25 members of the group moved to Washington, DC to become the Computation Laboratory of the National Bureau of Standards, now the National Institute for Standards and Technology. Gertrude Blanch moved to Los Angeles to lead the computing office of the Institute for Numerical Analysis at UCLA and Arnold Lowan joined the faculty of Yeshiva University in New York. The greatest legacy of the project is the "Handbook of Mathematical Functions"
Abramowitz and Stegun
Abramowitz and Stegun is the informal name of a mathematical reference work edited by Milton Abramowitz and Irene Stegun of the U.S. National Bureau of Standards...
, which was published 16 years after the group disbanded. Edited by two veterans of the project, Milton Abramowitz
Milton Abramowitz
Milton Abramowitz was a mathematician at the National Bureau of Standards who, with Irene Stegun, edited a classic book of mathematical tables called Handbook of Mathematical Functions, widely known as Abramowitz and Stegun. Abramowitz died of a heart attack in 1958, at which time the book was not...
and Irene Stegun
Irene Stegun
Irene Anne Stegun was a mathematician at the National Bureau of Standards who, with Milton Abramowitz, edited a classic book of mathematical tables called A Handbook of Mathematical Functions, widely known as Abramowitz and Stegun...
, it became a widely circulated mathematical and scientific reference.