II. Notebooks Relating to Mathematics,, 1828-1840

The thirty two notebooks that make up the Robert Adrain Collection span the period between 1826 and 1840 and relate to his work at Queen's and Rutgers Collge, the University of Pennslyvania, and Columbia College Grammar School. They are, excluding one notebook (box 1, folder 12), exclusively dedicated to his mathematical works and contain a number of drafts for publications including Mathematical Diaries as well as five notebooks that respond to the work Mécanique Céleste by Pierre-Simon Laplace. These notebooks also show him engaging in theories of dynamics and celestial mechanics as well as algebra and geometry. They further demonstrate his methodology in working out complicated problems as well as his organizational method.