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Main
Date: 03 Feb 2009 21:10:43
From: samsloan
Subject: About the Author, Agnus Ellis Taylor
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Angus Ellis Taylor (born October 13, 1911, died April 6, 1999 in
Berkeley California) will probably be best remembered for two
completely different things. First, he is the author of several
standard textbooks on Calculus and Analytic Geometry, of which this is
one.
Second, he is known for leading the group of Berkeley professors who
brought about the compromise in the Academic Senate which ended the
great =93Free Speech Movement=94 which swept the University of California
at Berkeley in 1964.
The Free Speech Movement started over something entirely trivial and
resulted in a great confrontation that brought the university system
to a halt and is still remembered in the American History books.
The issue was quite simple. There is a six foot wide piece of sidewalk
at the entrance to the campus of the University of California at
Berkeley on Bancroft Way where it meets Telegraph Avenue. That
particular strip of concrete is outside the posts that appear to mark
the boundary of the campus. Therefore, traditionally, that small area
was used by the students for political activities such as handing out
leaflets protesting against the War in Vietnam.
The Right-Wing Governors of the University of California decided one
day to shut down this small area of political dissent. Therefore, they
abruptly declared that the six foot wide strip of concrete was
University property and therefore no leafleting could be done on it.
In order to enforce this rule, they sent a police car to arrest a
student named Jack Weinstein who was politely sitting on a folding
chair at the entrance to the university handing how anti-war
literature. The police told him to stop and when he refused to do so,
arrested him and put him into a police car intending to take him to
jail.
When this happened, the most amazingly spontaneous thing occurred. At
first as few dozen students but soon several thousand students laid
down on the ground around the police car making it impossible for the
car to move without running over some of the students.
This was the non-violent tactic that Gandhi had made famous in India.
With the police car immobilized, the students started standing on top
of the police car making speeches. These speeches continued day and
night. Meanwhile, Jack Weinstein slept in the police car or people
brought him food.
After 36 hours, the police gave up and released Jack Weinstein from
the police car. The matter seemed to be over, but then the Regents of
the University of California suspended Jack Weinstein and several
other students from the University. This led to the great sit-in
demonstration in Sproul Hall and to the emergence of a student leader,
Mario Savio.
The students were united and the administration and the Regents were
adamant. Neither side was willing to back down.
It was at this point that Agnus Ellis Taylor emerged as the leader of
members of the Academic Senate who wanted a compromise. The compromise
was rather simple. The students would be allowed to hand out leaflets
and literature. All charges would be dropped and there would be no
punishments for the students. Everybody would go back to studying.
Although billed as a =93compromise=94, the students rightly considered
this to be a total victory. The students got even more than they had
been asking for. Rather than being confined to the six foot wide slab
of concrete where they had previously handed out literature on the
pretext that it was =93off-campus=94 they were now allowed to set up their
tables anywhere in designated areas on the campus.
Clarke Kerr, Chancellor of the University, who was previously thought
of as a great liberal, resigned in disgrace shortly thereafter. Agnus
Ellis Taylor, as the leaders of the group that brought about the
compromise that ended the crisis, had his reputation greatly enhanced
because of these events.
What is remarkable is that a man known as the author of dry calculus
textbooks would rise to greatness in such a crisis.
When an academic crisis developed at the Santa Cruz branch of the
University of California, Agnus Ellis Taylor was called in to resolve
the crisis, with the result that he was made Chancellor of the
University, a position he held in 1976 and 1977, after which he went
back to teaching.
Agnus Ellis Taylor spent the last years of his life in his 80s writing
his memoirs as well as writing poetry, much of which has not yet been
published. His memoir, Speaking Freely (Institute of Governmental
Studies Press, Berkeley, 2000), gives a detailed portrayal of his
professional life and involvements up to the time of his appointment
in August 1965 as vice president for academic affairs in the
University's central administration. Taylor's monograph, The Academic
Senate of the University of California (Institute of Governmental
Studies Press, Berkeley, 1998) elaborates the reach of the Academic
Senate's formal and informal authority.
Sam Sloan
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Date: 09 Feb 2009 16:39:20
From: samsloan
Subject: Re: About the Author, Agnus Ellis Taylor
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Volume 2 is out today.
Volume 1 will be out in a few days.
Naturally, we at Ishi Press do things in backwards order.
Sam Sloan
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbninquiry.asp?ean=3D092389125=
0
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbninquiry.asp?ean=3D092389124=
2
Angus Ellis Taylor (born October 13, 1911, died April 6, 1999 in
Berkeley California) will probably be best remembered for two
completely different things. First, he is the author of several
standard textbooks on Calculus and Analytic Geometry, of which this is
one.
Second, he is known for leading the group of Berkeley professors who
brought about the compromise in the Academic Senate which ended the
great =93Free Speech Movement=94 which swept the University of California
at Berkeley in 1964.
The Free Speech Movement started over something entirely trivial and
resulted in a great confrontation that brought the university system
to a halt and is still remembered in the American History books.
The issue was quite simple: There is a six foot wide piece of sidewalk
at the entrance to the campus of the University of California at
Berkeley on Bancroft Way where it meets Telegraph Avenue. That
particular strip of concrete is outside the posts that appear to mark
the boundary of the campus of the University. Therefore,
traditionally, that small area was used by the students for political
activities such as handing out leaflets protesting against the War in
Vietnam.
The Right-Wing Governors of the University of California decided one
day to shut down this small area for political dissent. Therefore,
they abruptly declared that the six foot wide strip of concrete was
University property and therefore no leafleting could be done on it.
In order to enforce this rule, they sent a police car to arrest a
student named Jack Weinberg who was politely sitting on a folding
chair at the entrance to the university campus handing how anti-war
literature. The police told him to stop and, when he refused to do so,
arrested him and dragged him into a police car, intending to take him
to jail.
When this happened, the most amazingly spontaneous thing occurred. At
first a few dozen students, but soon several thousand students laid
down on the ground around the police car making it impossible for the
car to move without running over some of the students.
This was the non-violent tactic that Gandhi had made famous in India.
With the police car immobilized, the students started standing on top
of the police car making speeches. These speeches continued day and
night. Meanwhile, Jack Weinberg slept in the police car while people
brought him food.
After 32 hours, the police gave up and released Jack Weinstein from
the police car. The matter seemed to be over, but then the Regents of
the University of California suspended Jack Weinstein and several
other students from the University. This led to the great sit-in
demonstration in Sproul Hall and to the emergence of a student leader,
Mario Savio.
The students were united and the Administration with the Regents were
adamant. Neither side was willing to back down.
It was at this point that Angus Ellis Taylor emerged as the leader of
members of the Academic Senate who wanted a compromise. The compromise
was rather simple. The students would be allowed to hand out leaflets
and literature. All charges would be dropped and there would be no
punishments for the students. Everybody would go back to studying.
Although billed as a =93compromise=94, after the motion passed the
Academic Senate the students rightly considered this to be a total
victory. The students got even more than they had been asking for.
Rather than being confined to the six foot wide slab of concrete where
they had previously handed out literature on the pretext that it was
=93off-campus=94, they were now allowed to set up their tables anywhere
within designated areas on the campus.
Clarke Kerr, Chancellor of the University, who was previously thought
of as a great liberal, resigned in disgrace shortly thereafter. Angus
Ellis Taylor, as the leader of the group that brought about the
compromise that ended the crisis, had his reputation greatly enhanced
because of these events.
What is remarkable is that a man known as the author of dry calculus
textbooks would rise to greatness in such a crisis.
When an academic crisis developed at the Santa Cruz branch of the
University of California, Angus Ellis Taylor was called in to resolve
the crisis, with the result that he was made Chancellor of the
University, a position he held in 1976 and 1977, after which he went
back to teaching.
Angus Ellis Taylor spent the last years of his life in his 80s writing
his memoirs as well as writing poetry, much of which has not yet been
published. His memoir, Speaking Freely (Institute of Governmental
Studies Press, Berkeley, 2000), gives a detailed portrayal of his
professional life and involvements up to the time of his appointment
in August 1965 as vice president for academic affairs in the
University's central administration. Taylor's monograph, The Academic
Senate of the University of California (Institute of Governmental
Studies Press, Berkeley, 1998) elaborates the reach of the Academic
Senate's formal and informal authority.
It might be added that I, Sam Sloan, played a small role in the above
events. Here is a picture published in the San Francisco Chronicle of
me listening through a crack in the door at the debates of the
Academic Senate in December 1966. I am the taller man wearing the
black jacket. This debate concerned a lesser known student revolution
in 1966 when the University Administration allowed an ROTC Army
Recruiting station to be set up on campus in an area where student
groups were prohibited from handing out Anti-War literature. With the
War in Vietnam escalating, anti-war sentiment was high among the
students and among the faculty as well, especially in the Math
Department led by anti-war mathematics professors including Angus
Taylor, John L. Kelley and Stephen Smale.
Note that the demands in the "List of Demands" by the students are all
entirely reasonable. Demand number five about "government agencies
setting up and manning propaganda tables" was directed at not allowing
Army Recruiters on campus in to recruit soldiers to fight in Vietnam.
Again, the Academic Senate led by Angus Taylor voted in favor of the
students and the Regents of the University had to back down.
Sam Sloan
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Date: 05 Feb 2009 03:32:59
From: samsloan
Subject: Re: About the Author, Agnus Ellis Taylor
|
On Feb 4, 12:10=A0am, samsloan <[email protected] > wrote:
> Angus Ellis Taylor (born October 13, 1911, died April 6, 1999 in
> Berkeley California) will probably be best remembered for two
> completely different things. First, he is the author of several
> standard textbooks on Calculus and Analytic Geometry, of which this is
> one.
>
> Second, he is known for leading the group of Berkeley professors who
> brought about the compromise in the Academic Senate which ended the
> great =93Free Speech Movement=94 which swept the University of California
> at Berkeley in 1964.
>
> The Free Speech Movement started over something entirely trivial and
> resulted in a great confrontation that brought the university system
> to a halt and is still remembered in the American History books.
>
> The issue was quite simple. There is a six foot wide piece of sidewalk
> at the entrance to the campus of the University of California at
> Berkeley on Bancroft Way where it meets Telegraph Avenue. That
> particular strip of concrete is outside the posts that appear to mark
> the boundary of the campus. Therefore, traditionally, that small area
> was used by the students for political activities such as handing out
> leaflets protesting against the War in Vietnam.
>
> The Right-Wing Governors of the University of California decided one
> day to shut down this small area of political dissent. Therefore, they
> abruptly declared that the six foot wide strip of concrete was
> University property and therefore no leafleting could be done on it.
>
> In order to enforce this rule, they sent a police car to arrest a
> student named Jack Weinstein who was politely sitting on a folding
> chair at the entrance to the university handing how anti-war
> literature. The police told him to stop and when he refused to do so,
> arrested him and put him into a police car intending to take him to
> jail.
>
> When this happened, the most amazingly spontaneous thing occurred. At
> first as few dozen students but soon several thousand students laid
> down on the ground around the police car making it impossible for the
> car to move without running over some of the students.
>
> This was the non-violent tactic that Gandhi had made famous in India.
>
> With the police car immobilized, the students started standing on top
> of the police car making speeches. These speeches continued day and
> night. Meanwhile, Jack Weinstein slept in the police car or people
> brought him food.
>
> After 36 hours, the police gave up and released Jack Weinstein from
> the police car. The matter seemed to be over, but then the Regents of
> the University of California suspended Jack Weinstein and several
> other students from the University. This led to the great sit-in
> demonstration in Sproul Hall and to the emergence of a student leader,
> Mario Savio.
>
> The students were united and the administration and the Regents were
> adamant. Neither side was willing to back down.
>
> It was at this point that Agnus Ellis Taylor emerged as the leader of
> members of the Academic Senate who wanted a compromise. The compromise
> was rather simple. The students would be allowed to hand out leaflets
> and literature. All charges would be dropped and there would be no
> punishments for the students. Everybody would go back to studying.
>
> Although billed as a =93compromise=94, the students rightly considered
> this to be a total victory. The students got even more than they had
> been asking for. Rather than being confined to the six foot wide slab
> of concrete where they had previously handed out literature on the
> pretext that it was =93off-campus=94 they were now allowed to set up thei=
r
> tables anywhere in designated areas on the campus.
>
> Clarke Kerr, Chancellor of the University, who was previously thought
> of as a great liberal, resigned in disgrace shortly thereafter. Agnus
> Ellis Taylor, as the leaders of the group that brought about the
> compromise that ended the crisis, had his reputation greatly enhanced
> because of these events.
It might be added that I, Sam Sloan, played a small role in the above
events. Here is a picture published in the San Francisco Chronicle of
me listening through a crack in the door at the debates of the
Academic Senate in December 1966. I am the taller man wearing the
black jacket.
http://www.anusha.com/strike.htm
This debate concerned a lesser known student revolution in 1966 when
the University Administration allowed an ROTC Army Recruiting station
to be set up on campus in an area where student groups were prohibited
from handing out Anti-War literature. With the War in Vietnam
escalating, anti-war sentiment was high among the students and among
the faculty as well, especially in the math department led by anti-war
mathematics professors including Angus Taylor, John L. Kelley and
Stephen Smale.
Note that the =93List of Demands=94 by the students are all entirely
reasonable. Demand number five about =93government agencies setting up
and manning propaganda tables=94 was directed at not allowing in Army
Recruiters trying to recruit soldiers to fight in Vietnam.
Again, the Academic Senate led by Angus Taylor voted in favor to the
students and the Regents of the University had to back down.
Sam Sloan
|
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Date: 05 Feb 2009 03:29:54
From: samsloan
Subject: Re: About the Author, Agnus Ellis Taylor
|
On Feb 5, 5:51=A0am, Offramp <[email protected] > wrote:
> No wait - it was Angus!
> Sorry about that!
What a blunder!
Fortunately, I only made that mistake four times in the book.
Thit is why I post these snippits in advance of publication. I am
hoping that my (numerous) critics will catch my errors.
Sam Sloan
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Date: 05 Feb 2009 02:51:53
From: Offramp
Subject: Re: About the Author, Agnus Ellis Taylor
|
No wait - it was Angus!
Sorry about that!
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Date: 05 Feb 2009 11:13:06
From: Angus Dei
Subject: Re: About the Author, Agnus Ellis Taylor
|
On Thu, 5 Feb 2009 02:51:53 -0800 (PST), Offramp
<[email protected] > wrote:
>No wait - it was Angus!
>Sorry about that!
That's OK.
--
Angus Rodgers
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Date: 05 Feb 2009 02:48:59
From: Offramp
Subject: Re: About the Author, Agnus Ellis Taylor
|
On Feb 5, 10:39=A0am, Angus Rodgers <[email protected] > wrote:
> On Thu, 5 Feb 2009 02:24:13 -0800 (PST), Offramp
>
> <[email protected]> wrote:
> >On Feb 4, 5:10=A0am, samsloan <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >> Angus
>
> >Possibly the worst start to a thread I have ever seen!
>
> Am I getting paranoid, or ...?
>
> --
> Angus Rodgers
Sorry, Angus. The OP has just republished a book by Agnus Ellis
Taylor. AGNUS. Craxy name, crazy guy!
I bet he spent half his life correcting people: "NO, Not Angus. Not
Agnes! AG-NUS!!!!! Anus with a gee in it!!"
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Date: 05 Feb 2009 02:24:13
From: Offramp
Subject: Re: About the Author, Agnus Ellis Taylor
|
On Feb 4, 5:10=A0am, samsloan <[email protected] > wrote:
> Angus
Possibly the worst start to a thread I have ever seen!
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Date: 05 Feb 2009 10:39:04
From: Angus Rodgers
Subject: Re: About the Author, Agnus Ellis Taylor
|
On Thu, 5 Feb 2009 02:24:13 -0800 (PST), Offramp
<[email protected] > wrote:
>On Feb 4, 5:10�am, samsloan <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> Angus
>
>Possibly the worst start to a thread I have ever seen!
Am I getting paranoid, or ...?
--
Angus Rodgers
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