Charles Davies

Charles Davies (January 22, 1798 – September 17, 1876) was a professor of mathematics at the United States Military Academy, notable for writing a series of mathematical textbooks.

Biography Davies was born in Washington, Connecticut. His father was a County Sheriff or County Judge. During Davies' early years, the family moved to St Lawrence County, New York, where he was educated in local schools. He entered the US Military Academy at West Point in December 1813, through the influence of General Joseph Swift, who had met Davies' father during the War of 1812. Davies had earned praise for the services rendered to General James Wilkinson's army in the Descent of the St. Lawerence during the fall of 1813. Having been brought up on the frontier, Davies had had little formal education, but he had no difficulty in pursuing the courses at the academy. He graduated from the academy in December 1815.

He joined the Light Artillery as a Bvt. Second Lieut. on December 11, 1815. He served a year in garrison at New England posts till August 31, 1816, when he was transferred to the Corps of Engineers. He resigned from the Army on December 1, 1816, and took a post as Assistant Professor of Mathematics at West Point. He became a Professor in May 1823.

He died on September 17, 1878. He was engaged with authoring textbooks till his death. He was buried in the family cemetery at Oswegatchie, New York. Elements of Geometry and Trigonometry (1828), his most popular work, appeared in 33 editions/printings and sold more than 300,000 copies. By 1875, his publisher had sold over 7,000,000 copies of his books and was selling 350,000 copies every year. Elements of the Differential and Integral Calculus (1836) Elements of Analytical Geometry (1837); 1845 revised edition