Callans, Mary 1863-1930 DAB . XI Cajori Calkins title Theory of age of sixteen he emigrated to America, his elder of enduring value. His revised English trans- f Vaulted Struc.. brother having preceded him, and went at once lation of Newton's Principia, with a historical ed Elastic Arches to Whitewater, Wis., where he continued his and explanatory appendix, was published posthu- 884) ; and Prac- education at the normal school. After teaching mously in 1934, in sumptuous form, by the Uni- alls (1888). His in a country school he entered the University of versity of California Press. ourse in the Cal- Wisconsin (B.S., 1883, M.S., 1886). During Hundreds of points and scores of topics in the ssure, Retaining 1884-85 he was a graduate student in mathe- history of mathematics will hereafter have their addition to these matics at the Johns Hopkins University. He proper settings because of Cajori's presentations tude of papers to spent the next three years, 1885-88, at Tulane of the facts. His English style lacked grace, but 3, a steady stream University as assistant professor of mathematics his elaboration of matters under discussion was Thereafter, until and professor of applied mathematics. After a always singularly clear. In recognition of his cles in his field year of research with the United States Bureau eminence in his field he was elected to the pen, and investi- of Education he labored for the next twenty-nine presidency of the Mathematical Association of counsel. Despite years at Colorado College, Colorado Springs, America, to a vice-presidency of the American :hematics he was where he was professor of physics (1889-98), Association for the Advancement of Science and rdinary intuitive professor of mathematics (1898-1918), and dean chairmanship of Section L (Historical and Phil- 1 to analyze, from of the department of engineering (1903-18). ological Sciences), to a vice-presidency of the variety of engi- During this period he always carried a heavy History of Science Society, and of the Comité strength of ma- teaching load and served in various administra- International d'Histoire des Sciences. Among against retaining tive capacities for which he was ideally qualified. the eighty leading mathematicians of the United Formulas which But in spite of such demands upon his time, even States in 1903, Cajori was listed as thirty-first. m, and engineers though far removed from adequate library facili- His great hobby was athletics. He always walked d used his meth- ties, he achieved a remarkable quantity of publi- a great deal in the mountains near Colorado American Society cation. In 1890 the Bureau of Education at Springs and later, to a more limited extent, in im the J. James Washington published his work on The Teach- the Berkeley hills. He was interested also in "The Circular ing and History of Mathematics in the United college athletics and followed enthusiastically (Transactions of States, the preparation of which called for much both the regular and practice games. His bear- : Engineers, vol. careful research. In I894 appeared the equally ing was exceedingly modest, and the gentle kindli- extensive work, A History of Mathematics (re- ness of his spirit, his intense interest in others the work of for- vised ed., 1919), then the most useful account in and their problems, won a host of friends. On nch, and Italian, English of the history of mathematics in the Sept. 3, 1890, he was married to Elizabeth G. forward outlook nineteenth century. There were Russian and Edwards of St. Louis, Mo., by whom he had g his retirement. Japanese translations of A History of Elemen- one son, Florian Anton. He died of pneumonia yalty to the old tary Mathematics with Hints on Methods of in his seventy-second year. ners were of the Teaching (1896, 1917), and two Italian edi- [R. C. Archibald, "Florian Cajori, 1859-1930," in as a member of tions of A History of Physics in its Elementary Isis, Apr. 1932, with portrait and bibliog., and memoir ch and active in Branches including the Evolution of Physical in Proc. Am. Acad. Arts and Sci., vol. LXVIII (1933); 1 sportsman and Science, Sept. 19, 1930; Bull. Am. Mathematical Soc., Laboratories, first issued in 1899. He also pub- Nov. 1930 Archeion, Luglio-Decembre 1930 J. C. is later years he lished An Introduction to the Modern Theory Poggendorffs Biographisch-Literarisches Handwörter- 'uck by an auto- of Equations (1904) an excellent section on buch für Mathematik, Astronomie, Physik, vol. V (1926) Am. Men of Sci. (4th ed., 1927) Who's Who street in front of "Arithmetik, Algebra, Zahlentheorie" in Vol- in America, 1930-31; Am. Mathematical Monthly, Nov. later. His por- ume IV of Moritz Cantor's great work, Vorle- 1930; San Francisco Chronicle, Aug. I5, 1930.] in Phillips Hall sungen über Geschichte der Mathematik (1908) RAYMOND CLARE ARCHIBALD A History of the Logarithmic Slide Rule and S. A. Ashe, Biog. Allied Instruments (1909) and William Ough- CALKINS, MARY WHITON (Mar. 30, 5; Who's Who in son, "William Cain : tred, A Great Seventeenth-Century Teacher of 1863-Feb. 26, 1930), philosopher, teacher, was ur. of the Elisha Mathematics (1916), as well as scores of papers. born at Hartford, Conn. Her father, Wolcott 'censboro (N. C.) All of these date from the period before 1918, Calkins, was of Welsh extraction but the family oir by T. F. Hick- gineers, vol. XCV the year in which the University of California had emigrated to America in 1638. Her mother, ICHARD S. KIRBY appointed him professor of the history of mathe- Mary Whiton, belonged to an old New Eng- matics, one of the few chairs of the kind in the land family boasting three Mayflower ancestors. 3, 1859-Aug. 14, world. During the next twelve years (he be- Miss Calkins was the eldest of five children, two was the young- came professor emeritus July I, 1929) his pro- daughters and three sons. The unusually close > family of four ductivity in publication greatly increased. Among and happy family association was one of the most :h and the engi- his five books of this period the monumental influential factors in shaping her character. Her ajöri, who lived work, A History of Mathematical Notations (2 early life was spent in Buffalo where her father itzerland. At the vols., 1928-29), was original in conception and was the minister of the North Presbyterian 149 Calkins Capps Church. In 1880 the family moved to Newton, points of view is probably her greatest contribu- Mass., which was to be her home throughout the tion to American thought. Through her writings rest of her life. An amusing hint of her later she became recognized as a philosopher of high interests appears in her graduation essay at the order. In 1905 she was elected president of the Newton high school. Under the imposing title, American Psychological Association, the first "The Apology Plato Should have Written," she woman to hold that position. In 1918 she was did her best to vindicate the character of Xan- elected president of the American Philosophical tippe. She received from Smith College the de- Association and in 1928 was made an honorary grees of A.B. in 1885 and A.M. in 1888. In 1886 member of the British Psychological Associa- she studied at Leipzig University. On her return tion. These unusual honors not only showed ap- from Europe she accepted a position as tutor of preciation of the value of her work but did much Greek at Wellesley College, thus beginning an to advance the cause of the higher education of association that lasted for over forty years. In women which she had so much at heart. 1890, while teaching, she studied psychology In addition to her professional work, Miss under Edmund C. Sanford at Clark University Calkins contributed greatly to the social move- and began also her studies at Harvard. There ments of her time. Her conviction of the value she worked under William James, Josiah Royce, of the self and her scrupulous desire for justice and later Hugo Münsterberg [qq.v.]. She became made it natural for her to ally herself with such one of Rovce's most devoted followers. By 1896 groups as the Consumer's League and the Amer- she had fulfilled the requirements for the degree ican Civil Liberties Union. She came out boldly of Ph.D. with distinction, but the university in support of Sacco and Vanzetti, at a time when could not grant the degree to a woman. sentiment in Massachusetts was running high In 1890 Miss Calkins was appointed instructor against them, and maintained her pacifist convic- in psychology at Wellesley and established the tions throughout the First World War. In 1929 first psychological laboratory in any woman's she severed her active connection with Wellesley college. As a teacher of philosophy and psychol- College and was appointed research professor. ogy over a long period of years she influenced She retired quietly to her home in Newton with large numbers of young women by her clarity her mother and planned to finish a book on the of mind, her keen intellectual honesty, and her subject of religion. Unfortunately the book was warm human sympathy. Through her wide ac- never written. She died in February 1930 after quaintance she brought to the college many of four months of serious illness. Any appraisal of the foremost philosophers of the day, and during her work would be incomplete if it did not stress these years when the education of women was the deep religious conviction which animated still in a formative period, she contributed much everything she did. Her teaching, her writing, to the educational policy of Wellesley College. her informal friendly contacts, her broad social While recognizing that teaching must be the sympathy, and perhaps most of all her close fam- central purpose of a college, she saw clearly the ily relationships were but different expressions necessity of research for the sake of the student of her fundamental philosophical attitude. With as well as that of the teacher. Her own investi- extreme modesty and a delightful sense of humor gations and studies took form in several pub- she showed the same incisive intellectual power lished works. Her conception of the self as and devotion to justice in dealing with the prob- fundamental in psychology is set forth clearly in lems of a college student or in engaging in philo- her first book, An Introduction to Psychology sophical discussion. She was the first woman to (1901), and developed further in later books and attain eminence in the field of philosophy, and articles. Her most important book, The Persist- with her philosophy was both a reasoned theory ent Problems of Philosophy, appeared in 1907, and a way of life. followed in 1918 by a brief study in ethics, The [Who's Who in America, 1930-31; In Memoriam, Good Man and the Good. She contributed many Mary Whiton Calkins, 1863-1930 (1931) ; Carl Murchi- son, ed., A Hist. of Psychology in Autobiog., vol. I articles to scholarly journals both at home and (1930) Wellesley Mag., vol. XV (1930) Contem- abroad. Her work is marked throughout by great porary Am. Philosophy (1930), vol. I; Florence Con- verse, Wellesley Coll. A Chronicle of the Years, 1875- unity of thought. An exponent of a type of 1938 (1939) Philosophical Rev., May 1930; Boston idealism closely akin to that of Josiah Royce, she Transcript, Feb. 27, 1930.] GERTRUDE C. BUSSEY never followed his thought in a slavish fashion but developed her own central conception in re- CAPPS, WASHINGTON LEE (Jan. 3I, lation to its historical antecedents and to con- 1864-May 3I, 1935), naval officer, son of Wash- temporary trends. Her clear analysis of the self ington Tazewell and Frances (Bernard) Capps, both from the psychological and philosophical was born in Portsmouth, Va. On his father's 50 section 4 Page 1 of 6 Wellesley College Department of Philosophy Departmental Handbook (2002-2003) Section Four: Philosophy at Wellesley 4.1 A short history of Wellesley philosophy 4.2 Faculty profiles Virginia Onderdonk '29 joined the philosophy department in 1933-34, initially to teach logic. She became the leading member of the department through the middle years of the century. through to her retirement in 1972. After a year's leave studying philosophy and logic at Cambridge. she returned to the College in 1938-39 to introduce a new advanced logic course, using the first textbook of modern formal logic-John C. Cooley's A Primer of Formal Logic--in mimeograph before the book was published. 4.1 A short history of Wellesley philosophy Philosophy has been a part of the history of Wellesley College since its conception: in an Announcement published in December, 1874, a year before the College opened its doors to students, the Board of Trustees explained that a course http://www.wellesley.edu/Philosophy/section_4.htm 1/2/2003 section 4 Page 2 of 6 embracing "Logic, Psychology, Ethics, and the History of Philosophy" would be part of the curriculum. The catalogue for 1883-84 was the first to list a course of study in philosophy: Bible study and ethics (required of all first-years), logic (required of all juniors), and mental and moral philosophy (required of all seniors). "Mental and moral philosophy" included psychology; philosophy and psychology were taught in the same department until 1940. By 1890-91 there were twelve different courses in philosophy: 1. Principles of Christian Ethics 2. Logic, Psychology, Moral Philosophy 3. Logic: Formal Principles of Inference: Exercises in Argumentation and Criticism 4. Types of Ethical Theory 5. Psychology and Metaphysics 6. History of Philosophy: Outline of the Development of Thought in Europe 7. The Scientific Basis of Theism as Opposed to Positivism 8. The Bible Presentation of the Origin and of the Redemption of Man, with the Logic of Christian Evidences 9. History of Philosophy: Special Study of Great Epochs 10. Applications of Logic in the Development of Modern Thought 11. English Philosophy of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries The Instructor in "Psychology and Metaphysics" was a former Greek tutor named Mary Whiton Calkins. At the time, Calkins was working toward her doctorate in philosophy at Harvard. She was the first woman in the history of Harvard University to complete the requirements for the Ph.D. (in any field). The Harvard philosophy department put her up for a degree. but the university refused to award it because she was a woman. Later, when Harvard began giving Radcliffe Ph.D.'s to women, Calkins was invited to receive one. She refused, saying that she had earned a Harvard Ph.D. and would accept nothing else. Calkins. who became professor of philosophy and psychology in 1889-99, went on to become one of the best-known philosophers in the world. (She was one of three people to be president of both the American Philosophical Association and the American Psychological Association. The others were William James and John Dewey.) The psychology laboratory she opened at Wellesley was one of the first in the country: an exhibition by the laboratory was part of the College's gold-medal winning display at the 1900 Paris Exposition. Experiments conducted in the laboratory were published in a two-volume series of Wellesley College Studies in Psychology. Calkins also supervised most of the department's graduate students. The department awarded its first master's degree in 1892, and its last in 1924. Several masters theses were published (a revision of one thesis was co-published by Wellesley and Oxford University Press, in a special series celebrating the 75th anniversary of the college). Several graduates of the master's program went on to teach, most of them at women's colleges (among them Mt. Holyoke, Smith, and Goucher). Eleanor Gamble, a psychologist, chaired the department after Calkin's retirement in 1929. In the 1910's and 1920's, Calkins had been the only member of the department to teach a number of courses in both philosophy and psychology. Although Gamble was a psychologist. she was the primary instructor in logic, and when she herself retired in 1932-33, the only remaining justification for a joint department was (as one department member later put it) "tradition and affection." Professor of Philosophy Thomas Procter made a passionate case for splitting the departments in his annual report as chair for 1935-36: The rapid development of technical complexity in Psychology makes it now impossible for one person to do justice to both subjects. Wellesley is one of the few places to hold to the older tradition that regarded Psychology as a branch of Philosophy. [Psychology] is no more closely connected with Philosophy than any other science is. I am unable to defend the present union on any logical ground and it is inevitable that there will be increasing divergence in the interest of the two subjects. I can foresee the future possibility that so young and vigorous a science might be hampered by its association with Philosophy. Academic Council voted to split the departments in 1939. In 1933. the department hired Virginia Onderdonk '29, a graduate student at the University of Chicago, to replace Gamble as the teacher of the logic course. Onderdonk became the leading member of the department in mid-century. http://www.wellesley.edu/Philosophy/section_4.htm 1/2/2003 Wellesley College Psychology Department Page 1 of 3 The Department The Department History Careers Psychologists are interested in the scientific study of behavior. In their Faculty research, psychologists observe and analyze the behavior of individuals and groups in both laboratory and field settings. Many psychologists are also Courses interested in improving the quality of human life through the application of psychological knowledge. Major $ Minor laternships The department offers course work in many areas of psychology, including child development, personality, social psychology, neuropsychology, and Honors cognition. The department is empirically oriented, placing a strong emphasis on understanding and using scientific methods in the study of behavior. Student Theory is not neglected, but it is usually linked to empirical work. Activities The curriculum prepares majors for graduate study in psychology or for Related positions as research assistants to psychologists. The major is also relevant Programs for those who are interested in social work, education, health, public policy, Resources business, law, or any field that requires an understanding of behavior or competence in conducting empirical research and analyzing data. Home Back to the Top History of the Psychology Department by Laurel Furumoto How did it begin? In fall 1891, newly appointed Instructor in Psychology Mary Whiton Calkins (1863-1930) set up a psychological laboratory with $200 of equipment in one attic room of College Hall, the main campus building. That same year she introduced a year-long course in what was then called "the new psychology" that is, experimental psychology in contrast with the older speculative, non- empirical psychology known as "mental philosophy". In the first year that it was offered, Calkins's course, which required students to conduct experiments in sensation, space perception, and reaction-times, was elected by 54 seniors. Wellesley's psychological laboratory, one of the earliest in the U.S., was the first to be established in a liberal arts college. Early faculty of note were Calkins (1863-1930) president of APA in 1905, originator of the paired-associate technique, and originator of a system of self-psychology and Edna Heidbreder(1890-1985) president of EPA in 1943, who was best known for her research in concept formation and her classic text in history and systems, Seven Psychologies (1933). Click here to see the Psychology Department Slideshow Where did it reside? The Psychology Laboratory had grown from one to 14 rooms by the spring of 1914 when College Hall was completely destroyed by fire. For the next 20 years, the Psychology Laboratory was housed in "temporary quarters" until 1935 when the Psychology Department moved into newly constructed Pendleton Hall along with Chemistry and Physics. Between June 1976 and http://www.wellesley.edu/Psychology/Psych/Psych_Department/psych_department.htmp 1/2/2003 HOLLIS FULL CATALOG - Full View of Record Page 1 of I U Your Account Start Over Help Comments Full Catalog Journals Reserves E-Resources HOLLIS CATALOG Previous Searches I Results List Display Options Harvard University Search Expanded Search Command Search Harvard Libraries Full View of Record : FULL CATALOG Save/Mail Add to List I View List Last Browse Choose format: Full view I Short view I MARC Record 24 out of 26 Previous Record Next Record Author : Calkins, Mary Whiton, 1863-1930. Title : Association. Presented informally to the Philosophical Department of Harvard University, May 1, 1895. All Locations : Availability Location : Harvard Archives i Rad T. C155 Harvard Depository Holdings Availability Notes : Thesis (Ph. D.)--Radcliffe College, 1895. HOLLIS Number : 003834509 Previous Record Next Record SEARCH: FULL CATALOG Browse an Alphabetical List: Browse for: Author (last name first) Browse Clear Keywords from: Search for: Keywords anywhere Search Clear Copyright (c) 2002 President and Fellows of Harvard College 58VYXUJSKB5KGHQF2GAD9KSY4AE12SH6J9QM86NYG7CCPXPA96-15569?func=full-set-set&set_numbd1/2/2003