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AN

INTRODUCTION

TO

ALGEBRA,

BRING THE

FIRST PARA

OF A

COURSE OF MATHEMATICS,

L

ADAPTED TO THE

185

METHOD OF INSTRUCTION IN THE AMERICAN COLLEGES.

BY JEREMIAH DAY, D. D. LL. D.

PRESIDENT OF YALE COLLEGE.

FOURTH EDITION.

PUBLISHED AND SOLD PY HEZEKIAH HOWE, NEW-HAVEN

SOLD ALSO BY COLLINS & HANNAY, NEW-YORK:

AND JOHN GRIGG, PHILADELPHIA.

HEZEKIAH HOWE, PRINTER,

of S. Thomas March 26th 1834.

QA

154
:D27
1827

DISTRICT OF CONNECTICUT, ss.

BE IT REMEMBERED; That on the thirteenth day of March, in the fifty-first year of the Independence of the United States of America, JEREMIAH DAY, of the said District, hath deposited in this Office the Title of a Book, the right whereof he claims as Author, in the words following, to wit: "An Introduction to Algebra, being the First Part of a Course of Mathematics, adapted to the Method of Instruction in the American Colleges. By JEREMIAH DAY, D.D. LL. D. President of Yale College. Fourth Edition."

In conformity to the Act of Congress of the United States, entitled, "An Act for the Encouragement of Learning, by securing the Copies of Maps, Charts, and Books, to the Authors and Proprietors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned."—And also to the Act, entitled, "An Act supplementary to an Act, entitled, An Act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies during the times therein mentioned,' and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engraving, and etching historical and other prints." CHARLES A. INGERSOLL,

Clerk of the District of Connecticut.

A true Copy of Record, examined and sealed by me,

CHARLES A. INGERSOLL,

Clerk of the District of Connecticut.

A

DeForest Bk. Ship
shop
8-9-38
37000

PREFACE.

лвий

06.9.

THE following summary view of the first principles of algebra is intended to be accommodated to the method of instruction generally adopted in the American colleges.

The books which have been published in Great Britain on mathematical subjects, are principally of two classes.→ One consists of extended treatises, which enter into a thorough investigation of the particular departments which are the objects of their inquiry. Many of these are excellent in their kind; but they are too voluminous for the use of the body of students in a college.

The other class are expressly intended for beginners; but many of them are written in so concise a manner, that important proofs and illustrations are excluded. They are mere text-books, containing only the outlines of subjects which are to be explained and enlarged upon, by the professor in his lecture room, or by the private tutor in his chamber.

In the colleges in this country, there is generally put into the hands of a class, a book from which they are expected of themselves to acquire the principles of the science to which they are attending; receiving however, from their instructer, any additional assistance which may be found necessary. An elementary work for such a purpose, ought evidently to contain the explanations which are requisite, to bring the subjects treated of within the comprehension of the body of the class.

If the design of studying the mathematics were merely to obtain such a knowledge of the practical parts, as is required for "transacting business; it might be sufficient to commit to memory some of the principal rules, and to make the operations familiar, by attending to the examples. In this mechanical way, the accountant, the navigator, and the land-surveyor, may be qualified for their respective employments, with very little knowledge of the principles that lie at the foundation of the calculations which they are to make.

But a higher object is proposed, in the case of those who are acquiring a liberal education. The main design should

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