In August, 1961, I returned, with wife Esther, 7-year-old Timmy and 4-year-old Chris, to the campus of Inter American University of Puerto Rico, San Germán, P.R., where we spent the years 1955-58, before my Study Leave in the States.The original school buildings and faculty houses and roads had been built by students as part of a program to instill love of working. There still was a requirement of 3 hours a week of "Work Experience". I didn't want students running errands for me, so I bethought myself of more academic enterprises.
IAU now had students from more than 50 countries, particularly from Africa, where the President had formerly worked.
I set the Puerto Rican and other Latino students to work on A Mathematics Dictionary in Spanish. And I set the African students to work on A Mathematics Dictionary in Swahili.
Now Swahili was influenced by Arabic, and Islamic scholars had conserved and advanced learning during "The Dark Ages" in Europe. So Swahili already had an extensive mathematical terminology. And my African students began writing this down.
But so much of mathematics had developed since Swahili began that there was need to bring math in Swhili up to date.
I had seen what happened in Spanish. For example, in English, we speak of "one-to-one correspondence". But the Spanish for this is "la correspondencia biunivoca". Why? I didn't understand until I secured a 1900 book on math from England, which listed "biunivocal correspondence". The Spanish was frozen at the 1900 level. Because of instances like this, Puerto Rican teachers didn't connect what they heard in classes given in English with what they had learned in school. That is, they were surprised to find out that a "one-to-one corresondence"is the same as "la correspondencia biunivoca".
I wished to avoid this in trying to extend Swhahili mathematical terminology. So I urged my African students to write to Swahili scholars in their various countries, urging them to make the choices of language for these new concepts and procedures in mathematics.
But nothing was ever accomplished on this. And, to my knowledge, little has been done otherwise. (I would be happy to learn that I am mistaken in this belief.)
As an additional disappointment, when the Libarary was moved to new quarters, the "Dictionary" files became lost.
The work is still to be done. I CHALLENGE any of you who care about this to contribute to this effort.