J. A. (Joseph Anthony) Gillet

Born in 1837, Joseph Anthony Gillet graduated from Harvard before the Civil War and spent nearly his entire professional life connected with the Normal College of the City of New York, later Hunter College. He served there for decades as a senior professor of mathematics and physics and was appointed acting president in 1906.

Gillet is best remembered today for educational works written for students and teachers. Among the books associated with his name are Notes on Trigonometry and Astronomy, First Book in Natural Philosophy, Natural Philosophy, and Elementary Algebra. Several of these were created for use in schools and academies, and some were written with William J. Rolfe.

That background helps explain the tone of his writing: practical, direct, and classroom-minded. Rather than writing for specialists, he wrote to help learners build confidence in subjects that could otherwise feel difficult or distant.