Introduction : James Joseph Sylvester : the myth, the mathematician, the man
ch. 1. Born to "the faith in which the founder of Christianity was educated"
The Abraham Joseph family of London
The Royal Institution School, Liverpool
ch. 2. A price of dissent
Cambridge debates dissent
Within the walls of St. John's
ch. 3. The hollow walls of academe
An unexpected opportunity
Professor of natural philosophy at University College London
Professor of mathematics at the University of Virginia
Struggling against an "Adverse tide of affairs"
ch. 4. Actuary by day... mathematician by night
The actuary : an emergent "Professional man"
J.J. Sylvester, Esq., M.A., F.R.S., Actuary and secretary
The Institute of Actuaries
Divided loyalties : mathematician or actuary?
Establishing a mathematical routine
ch. 5. Into the invariant-theoretic unknown
The emergence of a theory of invariants
Crafting the "new algebra"
From actuary to academic?
Changing responsibilities
The Royal Military Academy, Woolwich
Professor of mathematics once more - A roving mathematical eye
ch. 7. At war with the military
Victorian England and educational reform
Reform and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich
Mathematics misrepresented and misunderstood : taking on Huxley
The BAAS and science education
New possibilities on the horizon?
ch. 9. Exploring familiar ground on unfamiliar territory
Thriving in the graduate classroom
Launching the American Journal of Mathematics
Sustaining the American Journal of Mathematics
ch. 10. Tackling new challenges in a home away from home
Sylvester and his early students
From invariant theory to the theory of numbers
From number theory to "universal algebra"
A troubled transition to the theory of partitions
ch. 11. A bittersweet victory
ch. 12. The final transition
An international competition
Epilogue : James Joseph Sylvester : the man and his legacies
