Duncan Farquharson Gregory prospectus

PROSPECTUS OF THE SOCIETY FOR THE TRANSLATION OF
CAMBRIDGE MATHEMATICAL BOOKS INTO INTELLIGIBLE ENGLISH.

This "prospectus," which is said to have been written by D. F. Gregory, Fellow of Trinity, will speak for itself. The only passage which calls for comment is that in which the Society returns its "thanks to Mr. Hopkins for the kindness with which he has favoured it with the use of his private manuscripts, from which so many of the works recently published have been taken." Mr. Hopkins was the Routh of his time, and from 1828 to 1849 inclusive, i.e., in 22 years, had among his pupils 175 wranglers. Of these 108 were in the first ten, 44 in the first three, and 17 were senior wranglers. Naturally, therefore, the manuscripts of Mr. Hopkins would shed considerable light upon the mathematical works published in Cambridge during the second quarter of the present century

At a time like the present, when the expansion of scientific education created such a great demand for mathematical works in the English language, the expectations of the public were naturally directed towards the University of Cambridge, as the fountain from which the stream of knowledge was to be supplied; and, from the scientific reputation of so many of its members, the highest anticipation was formed. Considerable disappointment, however, has ensued, on its being found that, from the singularity of dialect which prevails among the works published at this university, together with other sources of studied obscurity, these works are wholly unintelligible to people at large unconnected with Cambridge. Fear has even been entertained that the imperishable works of a Miller, a Hymers, an Earnshaw, a Phelps, an Ottley, and a Hall, may be obscured in the eyes of posterity by the language in which they are written being no longer understood. Animated by these considerations, and anxious to rescue the University from the opprobrium which must fall upon her, should the productions of her illustrious offspring be allowed to fall into oblivion, a Society has been formed for the purpose of endeavouring to put these works within the reach of ordinary comprehensions by translating the most admired of them into the vernacular tongue. These translations it is proposed to bring out at no stated intervals, but as rapidly as the difficulty of the task will allow, and the following will be the principal objects kept in view in the Society's publications.

To translate the letter-press into the English language. In performing this task, the Society will not consider itself restricted to the ordinary proportion of one line of explanation to seven pages of symbols.
To correct the numerous errata which disfigure the fair pages of these works, and in particular to collate them carefully with the original authors from whom they have been copied, either with or without acknowledgment. The Society begs to return its sincere thanks to Mr. Hopkins for the kindness with which, for this purpose, he has favoured it with the use of his private manuscripts, from which so many of the recently published works have been taken. The Society hopes that, by paying particular attention to the printing department, the list of errata will be so small that it shall not require more than four supplementary sheets of small type for each volume.
Where possible, to discover and explain the author's meaning in those passages where he does not seem to have fully comprehended it himself.
To correct errors in analysis, and to supply those omissions which appear to have arisen from the author's accident in copying, having turned over two pages instead of one. In connection with this, the Society much regrets that persons ignorant of a foreign language should attempt to copy from the works of Continental writers, as they have thereby been reduced to the necessity of copying the analysis alone, without the accompaniment of the corresponding explanation.
Inasmuch as, from the language used in these works being ill-adapted for continuous prose, they are never accompanied by prefaces, the Society in the translations (where the same difficulty will not occur) will take care to have suitable prefaces prepared by competent persons who may have read through the various works and have been able, as far as possible, to understand them

The Society will be happy to receive offers of literary assistance (with the terms), and any communications which may tend to further the objects of the Society. In particular, authors are invited to give their opinions on the interpretation of difficult passages in their own works, but the Society does not pledge itself to always be guided by their views.

The first number of the Society's publications will contain "Miller's Differential Calculus." It will appear some time within the next 10 or 20 years; and when the difficulty of the task is considered, and when it is remembered that for the accurate execution of the work, the Society will have to examine 173 works on the same subject, which have been issued from the Cambridge Press, besides some minor works by Trench and other writers; and moreover, since from the statistical tables of the last five years it appears that seventeen treatises per annum on the "Differential Calculus" may be expected, all of which must also be examined, this time will not be deemed excessive. The Society prefers this plain statement to the modern practice of announcing works for ten years in the Cambridge Calendar, as "in the press, and shortly will be published."

A future object of the Society will be the translation of these works into other modern languages, so that foreign nations may be able to participate in the rapid progress which mathematical science is making in this University.

CAMBRIDGE, November 21, 1838

Last Updated September 2025