Unusual signed book: Elements of Algebra by William J. Milne. Later printing. NY: American Book Company, 1894. Hardcover, 5.25 x 7.5, 199 pages. Signed on the first free end page in ink with his childhood ownership signature, "Omar Bradley." Also signed above by his father in pencil, "J. S. Bradley's book." Rear endpapers are annotated in pencil with various mathematical equations, presumed to be in one of the Bradleys' hands, as the book was evidently passed down through the family. Autographic condition: very good to fine, with light soiling and staining to the signed page. Book condition: G/None, with losses and unsophisticated repairs to spine cloth, heavy wear to bumped corners, rubbing and wear to boards, and tape to the front hinge.
Omar Bradley credited his father, schoolteacher John Smith Bradley, with passing on his love of books, baseball, and shooting. At West Point, Bradley excelled as a baseball player, to the detriment of his academics; however, he still ranked 44th in a class of 164. Mathematics was one of his stronger subjects—perhaps owing to his early exposure to algebra with this book—and he would teach the subject at West Point for several years after World War I. In the article 'Math on the Plain,' Col. David Arney observes Bradley's astute mathematical acumen: 'Bradley was more than just a mathematics educator (he taught mathematics at USMA from 1919 to 1923). He also showed he was a real mathematician by using and developing mathematical ideas in performing his military duties as he rose to the rank of General of the Army (5 stars). It has been reported that Bradley was a superb teacher; so good that he was extended a 4th year in the Mathematics Department to help develop his fellow faculty members as well as teach cadets. Just as impressive were his talents in using mathematics to solve problems. After leading our Allies' efforts in Europe during World War II, he reflected that he often made his operational decisions by thinking of them in terms of constrained optimization problems and utilizing many of today's foundations of operations research. Who knows, in the process of his mathematical thinking, he could have been one of the first to think about the mathematical technique of linear programming.'
