Student poem composed by Jacob Abbot Cummings, 1799 September 16

Handwritten poem composed by Jacob Abbot Cummings when he was an undergraduate at Harvard College. The rhyming poem celebrates morning (as a metaphor for life) and describes the farmer, industrious milk maid, and market man. It begins, “Loud speaks the clarion of approaching day..." The poem is labeled "16 September 1799 Cummings" and is headed with a quote from John Milton's Paradise Lost: "Sweet in the breath of morn, her rising sweet, with song of earliest bird."

Mathematical notebook attributed to Thaddeus Mason Harris, ca. 1787

Hardcover notebook containing handwritten transcriptions of rules, cases, and examples from 18th century mathematical texts. The author and purpose of the volume is unclear, though it has been connected with Thaddeus Mason Harris (Harvard AB 1787). Most of the entries include questions and related answers, suggesting the notebook was used as a manuscript textbook and workbook. The extracts appear to be copied from John Dean's " Practical arithmetic" (published in 1756 and 1761), Daniel Fenning's "The young algebraist's companion" (published in multiple editions beginning in 1750), and Martin Clare's "Youth's introduction to trade and business" (extracts first included in 1748 edition).

Surveying workbook : manuscript, 1793-1795

Notes from Robert Gibson's Treatise of practical surveying, including diagrams and tables, with field notes and comments.

Mathematical notebook, and commonplace book, circa 1689-1769

Manuscript notebook, possibly kept by Harvard students, containing 17th century English transcriptions of arithmetic and geometry texts, one of which is dated 1689-1690; 18th century transcriptions from John Ward’s “The Young Mathematician’s Guide”; and notes on physics lectures delivered by John Winthrop, the Hollis Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy at Harvard from 1738 to 1779. The notebook also contains 18th century reading notes on Henry VIII, Tudor succession, and English history from Daniel Neal’s “The History of the Puritans” and David Hume’s “History of England,” and notes on Ancient history, taken mainly from Charles Rollin’s “The Ancient History of the Egyptians, Carthaginians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Medes and Persians, Macedonians and Grecians.” Additionally included are an excerpt from Plutarch’s “Lives” and transcriptions of three articles from “The Gentleman’s Magazine, and Historical Chronicle,” published in 1769: “A Critique on the Works of Ovid”; a book review of “A New Voyage to the West-Indies”; and “Genuine Anecdotes of Celebrated Writers, &.” The flyleaf contains the inscription “Semper boni aliquid operis facito ut diabolus te semper inveniat occupatum,” a variation on a quote of Saint Jerome that translates approximately as “Always good to do some work so that the devil may always find you occupied.” In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Harvard College undergraduates often copied academic texts and lecture notes into personal notebooks in place of printed textbooks. Winthrop used Ward’s textbook in his class, while the books of Hume, Neal, and Rollin were used in history courses taught at Harvard in the 18th century.

Rabbinical manuscripts of Judah Monis, ca. 1700s

This leather-bound volume contains ten handwritten Hebrew texts presumably compiled by Judah Monis in the early 18th century. The pieces range from three to 150 pages on different sized leaves and appear to be in multiple hands. The last page of the volume has the struck-through inscription, "Judah Monis' Book" and accompanies a 44-page text. The texts are unattributed and undated, but have been identified as transcriptions of cabalistic writings and include a short biography of Isaac Luria (1533-1572) and extracts from the work of Luria, Hayyim ben Joseph Vital, Jacob ben Hayyim Zemah, Abraham ben Isaac of Granada, and Naphtali Bachrach. The transcriptions appear to be unattributed and undated.

A synopsis of naturall philosophy according to the method of the ancients, but improved & augmented with the notions of later philosophers : manuscript, 1677-1679

Possibly autograph, dated at end of volume: Finitu[m] mart: 14, 1678/9. Imperfect copy with title page missing; supplied from a MS copy, dated 29 March 1680, now in the Bodleian Library.

Siñdhī pahelī ćopaḍī

A Khojki primer with various passages for reading practice.

Medical Curriculum Change at Queen's-affiliated Medical Colleges: 1881 – 1910

This study explores the curriculum at Queen’s-affiliated medical colleges, specifically The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, Kingston, the Kingston Women’s Medical College, and Queen’s Medical College, from 1881 to 1910, using the textbooks prescribed by these institutions as primary sources. The central question encompasses what factors primarily motivated the curriculum at Queen’s-affiliated medical colleges to change. Within the historiographical scholarship on Queen’s College, this question has not yet been addressed and, to my knowledge, this is the first medical education history to specifically address textbooks as part of a medical school curriculum. During this period, these institutions experienced reorganizational shifts, such as the reunification of Queen’s Medical College with The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, Kingston, as well as the introduction and subsequent exclusion of female students. Within this context, this study examines how the forces of scientific innovation and co-education impacted the curriculum during the period under study, as measured by textbook change, specifically in the courses of obstetrics and gynaecology, the theory and practice of medicine, and surgery. To what degree was curriculum in these courses responsive to scientific inventions and discoveries, changing therapeutic practices, and possible gender biases? From 1881 to 1910, innovations such as x-ray and anaesthesia became commonplace within medical practice. Some technologies gained acceptance in the curriculum, while others fell out of favour. This study tracks these scientific discoveries through the textbooks used at Queen’s-affiliated medical colleges in order to demonstrate how the evolving nature of medicine was represented in the curriculum. To address how gender influenced the curriculum, textbooks from the Kingston Women’s Medical College and The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, Kingston, were compared. For two out of the three examined courses, it was found that sections of textbooks discussing various topics at the Kingston Women’s Medical College contained significantly more detail than their corresponding sections within The Royal College’s textbooks. It was speculated that the instructors preferred to teach their female students through textbooks, rather than lectures.

What makes Greece special? CEPS Commentaries, 19 March 2014

The news from Greece these days has been dominated by the announcement that the government achieved a primary budget surplus in 2013. While acknowledging that this is indeed a highly laudable accomplishment, Daniel Gros points out in a new commentary that a more important news item, which has received much less attention, is the fact that Greece exported less in 2013 than in 2012. After considering various textbook causes for this poor export performance, he concludes that the only explanation must be that the Greek economy has remained so distorted that it has not responded to changing price signals.

Dinoflagellate cyst accumulation rates of ODP Hole 146-893A from Santa Barbara Basin

The dinoflagellate cyst record from Ocean Drilling Program Hole 893A, Santa Barbara Basin, southern California, is examined at millennial-scale resolution for the past 40 kyr. Changes in cyst abundance, composition of cyst assemblages, and their diversity reflect major shifts in climate and ocean circulation in the region over this time interval. Throughout the sequence, dinoflagellate cyst assemblages are dominated by heterotrophic dinoflagellates. Brigantedinium spp. and other upwelling-related taxa such as Echinidinium and Protoperidinium americanum are abundant, indicating the continued influence of coastal upwelling on the basin during the late Quaternary. A significant increase in cyst accumulation rates is seen during the Holocene and, to a lesser extent, during shorter warming events such as Bolling/Allerod and Dansgaard-Oeschger interstadials, implying enhanced marine productivity during these periods. Cyst diversity is high during the Holocene. An increase in abundance of cysts produced by autotrophic dinoflagellates in the late Holocene suggests enhanced input of warm, nutrient-rich waters. In contrast, cyst assemblages from the Last Glacial Maximum exhibit a relatively low diversity and an increase in the cysts of heterotrophic dinoflagellates, in particular Selenopemphix nephroides. The presence of this taxon in association with Brigantedinium spp. implies substantial cooling of surface waters in the Santa Barbara Basin at that time.

Checklists for counteracting race and sex bias in educational materials /

Bibliography: p. 31-32.

Electric machinery /

Reproduced from type-written copy.

The coal and metal miners' pocketbook of principles : rules, formulas, and tables.

"Specially compiled and prepared for the convenient use of mine officials, mining engineers, and students preparing themselves for certificates of competency as mine inspectors or mine foremen."