Beyond the Textbook: Reflections on Hands-On Approach from Jules Dalsème’s (1845–1904) Production
摘要
Elementary textbooks have recently received increasing attention in the historiography of mathematics, as well as their illustrations and the commercialization of items such as collections of geometric objects, instruments to measure, boxes of bricks. A pioneering example of an educational aid for primary school geometry is the cut-and-paste cardboard album Matériel-Atlas de Takymétrie a l'usage aux écoles primaires designed by Jules Dalsème (1854–1904) in 1882, to accompany his textbook Premières notions de takymétrie (géométrie naturelle) (1880). The Matériel-Atlas can be considered a (rational) toy, and at the same time a ready-to-use material, to support both teachers and pupils.