An Aspect of the Solid Geometry Education at a Normal School around the Late Meiji Era － From the Test Papers of the Wakayama Normal School －

Abstract

　　Wakayama University has a large amount of archives of the Wakayama Normal School, the predecessor of the present university.　Last year, third grade test papers and some other items around the late Meiji era were newly organized.　These papers serves us actual contents of solid geometry instructions at the time before the reform movement of mathematics education.   

　　The test problems especially concerning the relationship between a line and a plane seem extremely difficult from the point of today’s view.　For example, “Find the locus of the foot of the  perpendicular line given to the straight line in this plane passing through the fixed point in this plane from the fixed point besides the plane.” 

　　 It seems that even making a sketch is not so easy.　In this case it is necessary to make reasoning with demonstration using some definitions and theorems, and the reasoning would also refine the sketch.　This is a characteristics of the solid geometry problems at that time.　We can notice that reasoning with demonstration were emphasized in the solid geometry even more than the plane geometry.　We can also realize that normal schools had a important role of the secondary education.