REVIEWS Mr. Hopkins' Men: Cambridge Reform and British Mathematics in the 19th Century. By AlexD. D. Craik.

摘要

One of the labels I have acquired in my academic life, and not one of which I amleast proud, is that I am a wrangler, albeit a comparatively lowly one. If you knowsomething of Cambridge University, for instance if you have read G. H. Hardy's AMathematician's Apology [2] or J. E. Littlewood's A Mathematician's Miscellany [I],you will know that this does not mean I can lasso a horse. Rather, it means that Ireceived first class honours on the Mathematical Tripos (Part II), the Cambridge B.A.examination for mathematics. (In Webster's Dictionary, you will find this definitionlisted before the one involving horses.) Until 1910, when Hardy finally put an end tothe custom, wranglers were publically listed in order of merit, with the senior wranglerat the top of the list, followed by the 2nd wrangler, 3rd wrangler, etc. Hardy was 4thwrangler in 1898; Littlewood tied for senior wrangler in 1905. In 1966, although rankswere not posted, your college tutor could reveal your position if he wished. I was 26thwrangler.