Mathematics in North America
Mathematics in North America has a rich history characterized by significant developments in both education and research, particularly in the United States and Canada. Over the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, there has been a concerted effort to enhance mathematics education, driven by international performance comparisons and societal demands for technical skills. The early influences of mathematics can be traced back to indigenous cultures and early settlers, with formal education in mathematics beginning in the seventeenth century. In Canada, organizations like the Canadian Mathematical Society (CMS) play a pivotal role in promoting mathematics through educational initiatives, competitions, and public outreach programs, while also encouraging collaboration between academia and industry.
In the United States, the landscape has been shaped by historical events such as World War II, which attracted many European mathematicians to the country, influencing research and applications in various fields. Organizations such as the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) and the American Mathematical Society (AMS) have focused on issues of accessibility and equity in mathematics education, aiming to boost the achievement of all students. Despite being home to a large number of leading mathematicians and top-ranked universities, challenges remain, as evidenced by the comparatively low rankings of U.S. students in international mathematics assessments. As of 2024, efforts continue to foster a more inclusive and effective mathematics education system to better prepare students for future challenges.
Mathematics in North America
SUMMARY: Mathematics' long history in North America included a twentieth and twenty-first-century focus on improving mathematics education.
North Americaas defined by the United Nationsincluded the United States, Canada, the Danish autonomous country of Greenland, the British overseas territory of Bermuda, and the French overseas territory of Saint Pierre and Miquelon. The United States and Canada were especially active in the field of mathematics. By the mid-twentieth century, people from around the world increasingly came to North America to study and to work in mathematical disciplines. At the beginning of the twenty-first century, mathematicians and mathematics educators continued to explore ways to improve and advance research and teaching. Research and other work done by mathematics organizations in Canada and the United States showed that mathematics education was a concern in North America, in part because of international comparisons of student performance. These efforts were also driven, in part, by the increasingly technical demands of society and the resulting economic and social needs.
Brief Early History
Mathematics played a role in the societies of the earliest native peoples as well as those of settlers from around the world. The prehistoric serpent burial mounds in what is now the state of Ohio had mathematical elements and interpretations.
In the seventeenth century, the first North American colleges began to teach a variety of subjects, including mathematics. North American mathematicians made advances in mathematical theory and contributed to a wide range of inventions.
Canada
One way to explore mathematical efforts and priorities in the twenty-first century was to examine the activities of professional associations like the Canadian Mathematical Society (CMS). The purpose of the CMS was to promote and advance the discovery, learning, and application of mathematics in Canada. According to the CMS Web site, the CMS was seeking to “more aggressively reach out to and form new partnerships with the users of mathematics in business, governments, and universities, educators in the school and college systems as well as other mathematical associations; and in doing so, share experiences, work on collaborative projects and generally enhance the perception and strengthen the profile of mathematics in Canada.”
The mathematical skills of Canadian students were a primary concern for Canadian educators and business owners alike. The CMS was particularly interested in reaching out to students who were interested in mathematics and in working with the educational system to improve mathematics education. To that end, the CMS sponsored a variety of educational activities, including national and regional mathematics camps, the Sun Life Financial Canadian Open Mathematics Challenge, and the Canadian Mathematical Olympiad. Additionally, the CMS published a journal dedicated to unique and challenging mathematics problems that can be used in secondary and collegiate mathematics classes. The CMS also provided funding for a Public Lecture Series with the goal of promoting public awareness of mathematics. The CMS strongly promoted collaboration between mathematics education and business in an effort to align the education of students with the needs of the business community, and it developed workshops and publications to broaden participation in mathematics,
The United States
World wars, especially World War II, had a notable influence on the evolution of twenty-first-century mathematics, especially in the United States. Many European mathematicians fled their native countries because of violence or oppression and settled in the United States. Military and industrial needs spurred a great deal of mathematics research and applications, which further escalated during the Cold War, spurred by advances like the Soviet Union’s Sputnik satellite. The growth of universities in the wake of this boom, along with the relative isolation of the Soviet Union, were contributing factors to the rising numbers of students from other countries studying mathematics in the United States. By the beginning of the twenty-first century, the influx of foreign nationals into the United States educational system and workforce had slowed, in part because of change in political policies, including caps on visas; the rising prominence of universities in many other parts of the world; and the efforts of many nations to stem the “brain drain” or emigration of educated individuals.
Within the United States, many mathematical organizations had a strong impact on the field of mathematics, including the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) and the American Mathematical Society (AMS). Many of the concerns in the United States were similar to those in Canada. There had also been a great deal of concern and discussion regarding the perception that only some students are capable of succeeding at mathematics. Some assert that the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 was designed to challenge this perception by ensuring that all students could demonstrate grade-level mathematics proficiency. However, this measure was negatively received by many, in part because increased demands on teachers and schools were not always fully funded and criteria used to measure success and improvement were not universally agreed upon as appropriate. A primary focus was on improving the mathematics achievement of public school students in an effort to ensure that more students were “college-ready.”
In an effort to address this need, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) released a series of publications that focused on the idea that mathematics education at every grade level needed to center on in-depth development of a few key mathematical concepts. The MAA and AMS both made resources available to teachers to aid in this endeavor. Like Canada, the United States also worked to recruit a wider demographic of students into mathematical fields.
In 2024, the sum of these efforts appeared to show promise as the United States was ranked number one globally in terms having the largest number of leading mathematicians. In that year, 1,137 of the world's top 2,755 mathematicians were from the United States. This mirrored a similar 2022 ranking where 458 of the globe's top 1,000 scholars were American. Nine out of the top ten math universities in the world were in the United States, with Princeton University topping the list.
This picture was different when standardized math test scores of fifteen-year-old American students were compared with their international counterparts. In 2024, US students placed 28th out of 37 countries with membership in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
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