George B. Thomas Jr.’s Followers (57)

George B. Thomas Jr.

Born

in Boise, ID, The United States

January 11, 1914

Died

October 31, 2006

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George Brinton Thomas, a mathematician who turned a one-year teaching appointment at MIT into a 38-year career and whose well-regarded textbook has been used around the world, died Oct. 31 of natural causes in State College, Pa. He was 92.

Thomas, known as a young teacher for his ability to communicate mathematical concepts, was hired in 1951 by publisher Addison-Wesley to revise their then-standard, widely used calculus textbook. Rather than revise, he wrote his own, a classic text that has been in use for 54 years.

At MIT, Thomas came to be regarded as an outstanding teacher, "one of the best teachers the department has ever had," according to then Department Head Ted Martin. Not only did he teach a wide variety of subjects, but he also wil George Brinton Thomas, a mathematician who turned a one-year teaching appointment at MIT into a 38-year career and whose well-regarded textbook has been used around the world, died Oct. 31 of natural causes in State College, Pa. He was 92.

Thomas, known as a young teacher for his ability to communicate mathematical concepts, was hired in 1951 by publisher Addison-Wesley to revise their then-standard, widely used calculus textbook. Rather than revise, he wrote his own, a classic text that has been in use for 54 years.

At MIT, Thomas came to be regarded as an outstanding teacher, "one of the best teachers the department has ever had," according to then Department Head Ted Martin. Not only did he teach a wide variety of subjects, but he also willingly took on new courses. Administratively, he served as executive officer of the department for ten years and as graduate registration officer from 1962-67.

Thomas was born Jan. 11, 1914, in Boise, Idaho. His mother died in the influenza pandemic in 1919, and young George grew up in sometimes difficult circumstances. At one point he lived in a tent with his father and stepmother. "It must have been sort of hard times, because I can remember going out with her to pick weeds of some kind along the roadside that were edible," he recalled afterward, according to his daughter, Fay Bakhru.

His father's work in a bank helped lead Thomas to discover his own fascination with numbers. After studies at Spokane University and Washington State College, which led to bachelor's and master's degrees, Thomas hoped to become a high school math teacher, but "that somehow didn't work out," as he related afterward.

During World War II, Thomas helped program the differential analyzer for the calculation of firing tables for the Navy.

After the Soviet Union launched Sputnik in October 1957, Thomas was part of a national effort to improve math and science education in American schools. He also traveled to India on a Ford Foundation grant to teach Indian instructors how he and his American colleagues taught math.

Thomas worked in a shoe store for a time to save money for doctoral studies, and eventually went to Cornell, where he completed his Ph.D. in mathematics in 1940, and then came to MIT, from which he retired in 1978.

Thomas' commitment to education went well beyond MIT. From 1955-57, he served on the Board of Governors of the Mathematical Association of America, an organization devoted to mathematics, especially at the undergraduate level. He was elected its first Vice-President 1958-59. Thomas also served on the Executive Committee, Mathematics Division, of the American Society for Engineering Education from 1956-59. He was a member of the Commission on Mathematics of the College Entrance Examination Board, 1955-58, for which he co-authored monographs on mathematics, and spoke at numerous forums about teaching and high school curriculum reform. In addition to his calculus text, which had a significant impact, he was also one of the editors on a series of high school mathematics texts for Addison-Wesley Publishing.

Twice widowed, Thomas is survived by two daughters, Fay, of Glen Mills, Pa., and Jean H. Thomas of West Chester, Pa.; a son, James H. Thomas of Owls Head, Maine; a stepson, Brad Waldron of Beverly, Mass., two stepdaughters, Melissa Goggin of Beverly, Mass., and Susan Hamill of Maine; three sisters, Mary Nelson of Twin Falls, Idaho, Carol Hypes of Greeley, Colo., and Peggy Turner of Lubbock, Texas; three grandchildren; five great-grandchildren; and six step-grandchildren.

A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on November 15, 2006 (download PDF). ...more

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George B. Thomas Jr.’s books

Average rating: 4.04 · 1,425 ratings · 110 reviews · 184 distinct works • Similar authors

	Thomas' Calculus by George B. Thomas Jr., Maurice D. Weir 4.04 avg rating — 547 ratings — published 1952 — 86 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Calculus and Analytic Geometry by George B. Thomas Jr., Ross L. Finney 4.14 avg rating — 346 ratings — published 1920 — 81 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Thomas' Calculus Early Transcendentals: Media Update by George B. Thomas Jr., Joel R. Hass, Maurice D. Weir really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 211 ratings — published 2001 — 50 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Calculus and Analytic Geometry - Student's Solutions Manual, Part 2 3.99 avg rating — 73 ratings — published 1988 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Thomas' Calculus, Early Transcendentals, Part I [with MyMathLab/MyStatLab & Maple 12 Student Edition CD] by George B. Thomas Jr., Maurice D. Weir, Joel R. Hass 4.10 avg rating — 52 ratings — published 2000 — 10 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Self-study manual for Calculus and analytical geometry (6th edition) by George B. Thomas Jr., Ross L. Finney, Maurice D. Weir (Editor) 4.12 avg rating — 42 ratings — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Thomas' Calculus: Multivariable by George B. Thomas Jr., Frank R. Giordano, Maurice D. Weir 3.36 avg rating — 28 ratings — published 2004 — 12 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Elements of Calculus and Analytic Geometry by George B. Thomas Jr., Ross L. Finney really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 19 ratings — 9 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Calculus & Analytical Geometry: Multivariable Version 4.35 avg rating — 17 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Thomas' Calculus 3.89 avg rating — 9 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Quotes by George B. Thomas Jr. (?)

“DEFINITION A function ƒfrom a set D to a set Y is a rule that assigns a unique
(single) element to each element ƒsxd H Y x H D.”
― George B. Thomas Jr., Thomas' Calculus Early Transcendentals: Media Update

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