Mathematical Tables Project facts for kids
The Mathematical Tables Project was a huge team that did a lot of math calculations before modern computers existed. It started in the United States in 1938. This project helped many people who didn't have jobs during a tough time called the Great Depression. About 450 people worked on it. They created large tables of numbers for important math functions. These included things like exponential functions, logarithms, and trigonometric functions. These tables were later put into 28 books by Columbia University Press.
How the Project Started
The project was led by smart mathematicians and scientists. Many of them had trouble finding work because of the Great Depression. Imagine finishing school and not being able to find a job!
One of the main math leaders was Gertrude Blanch. She had just earned her highest degree in math from Cornell University. She couldn't find a university job and was working at a photo company before joining the project.
The person in charge of running the project was Arnold Lowan. He had a science degree from Columbia University. He had also spent a year at a special research place called the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton University. Then he came back to New York without a job.
Perhaps the most famous mathematician involved was Cornelius Lanczos. He had even worked with the famous scientist Albert Einstein! Lanczos spent a year with the project. He organized special classes about how to do calculations and use math in real-world problems. These classes were held at the project's office in Lower Manhattan.
What They Calculated
Besides making tables of math functions, the project did big calculations for many science projects. They helped physicists like Hans Bethe. They also did important calculations for different war projects. These included tables for the LORAN navigation system, which helped ships and planes find their way. They also made tables for microwave radar, bombing, and how shock waves travel.
Project's Legacy
The Mathematical Tables Project kept going even after the WPA program ended in 1943. It continued to work in New York until 1948. After that, about 25 members of the group moved to Washington, D.C. There, they became the Computation Laboratory of the National Bureau of Standards. Today, this is known as the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
Gertrude Blanch moved to Los Angeles. She led the computing office at the Institute for Numerical Analysis at UCLA. Arnold Lowan became a professor at Yeshiva University in New York.
The biggest lasting impact of the project is the Handbook of Mathematical Functions. This important book was published 16 years after the group stopped working together. It was put together by two people who had worked on the project, Milton Abramowitz and Irene Stegun. This handbook became a very popular reference book for math and science around the world.
See also
In Spanish: Proyecto de Tablas Matemáticas para niños
