<P> The social status of mathematical study was improving by the seventeenth century, with the University of Aberdeen creating a Mathematics Chair in 1613, followed by the Chair in Geometry being set up in University of Oxford in 1619 and the Lucasian Chair of Mathematics being established by the University of Cambridge in 1662 . However, it was uncommon for mathematics to be taught outside of the universities . Isaac Newton, for example, received no formal mathematics teaching until he joined Trinity College, Cambridge in 1661 . </P> <P> In the 18th and 19th centuries, the Industrial Revolution led to an enormous increase in urban populations . Basic numeracy skills, such as the ability to tell the time, count money and carry out simple arithmetic, became essential in this new urban lifestyle . Within the new public education systems, mathematics became a central part of the curriculum from an early age . </P> <P> By the twentieth century, mathematics was part of the core curriculum in all developed countries . </P> <P> During the twentieth century, mathematics education was established as an independent field of research . Here are some of the main events in this development: </P>

History of math education in the united states