Give one word for the following A) A person who tops in maths examination from Cambridge university
Answers
Answer:
Mathematics has been studied at Cambridge for a long time. The first figure of note is Robert Recorde (born about 1550) who is credited with the invention of the equality sign "=". He wrote several textbooks in the form of dialogues, but his last book ends with the author being arrested for debt.
Those with less antiquarian interests start their history a century or so later with Wallis, Barrow, and Newton. (All three luminaries had interesting non-mathematical careers. Wallis broke codes for the parliamentary side in the civil war. Barrow was noted for his strength and courage, and once when traveling in the East saved his ship by his own prowess from capture by pirates. Newton took a very public part in the university's quarrel with King James II.)
The spectacular success of Newton's work had the fortunate effect of establishing the prestige of mathematics in Britain and Cambridge and the unfortunate effect of blinding British mathematicians to progress in mathematics elsewhere. The parochial century that followed was not a very glorious period for Cambridge or British mathematics. However, it witnessed a slow but important change described in the next paragraph.
Over the years, the syllabus of the Medieval university had lost its relevance and the disputation by which it was examined became a mere formality. Sometime around 1725, a voluntary examination was instituted to help order the better students. At first, the examination was oral and consisted of questions on mathematics and some philosophy. Later, the candidates wrote their answers but the questions were dictated, and finally, in around 1790, the questions were printed. Thus was born the Cambridge Mathematical Tripos, the grandparent of every university examination in the world.
The examinations were held in January in the Senate House — a building which happens to be a very beautiful one, with a marble floor and a highly ornamental ceiling; and as it is on the model of a Grecian temple, and as temples had no chimneys, and as a stove or fire of any kind might disfigure the building, we are obliged to take the weather as it happens to be. Sometimes the ink froze in the inkwells.
Since the Mathematical Tripos was the only way in which students could show intellectual prowess, it was taken by many who went on to achieve distinction in other areas. A suitable example, given our present address, is provided by Thomas Clarkson who helped lead the fight against the slave trade. Even when examinations in other subjects became available, the Mathematical Tripos continued to produce people like Keynes and Bertrand Russell who gained eminence in very different fields.
In the 1820s, a group of young mathematicians including Babbage (of the Analytical Engine) modernized the Tripos to take account of the work of continental mathematicians and the glory days of the examination began.
Answer:
Mathematician is the one word for maths topper.