The Richness Of The History Of Mathematics

This book, a tribute to historian of mathematics Jeremy Gray, offers an overview of the history of mathematics and its inseparable connection to philosophy and other disciplines. Many different approaches to the study of the history of mathematics have been developed. Understanding this diversity is central to learning about these fields, but very few books deal with their richness and concrete suggestions for the “what, why and how” of these domains of inquiry. The editors and authors approach the basic question of what the history of mathematics is by means of concrete examples. For the “how” question, basic methodological issues are addressed, from the different perspectives of mathematicians and historians. Containing essays by leading scholars, this book provides a multitude of perspectives on mathematics, its role in culture and development, and connections with other sciences, making it an important resource for students and academics in the history and philosophy of mathematics.

This is the first comprehensive International Handbook on the History of Mathematics Education, covering a wide spectrum of epochs and civilizations, countries and cultures. Until now, much of the research into the rich and varied history of mathematics education has remained inaccessible to the vast majority of scholars, not least because it has been written in the language, and for readers, of an individual country. And yet a historical overview, however brief, has become an indispensable element of nearly every dissertation and scholarly article. This handbook provides, for the first time, a comprehensive and systematic aid for researchers around the world in finding the information they need about historical developments in mathematics education, not only in their own countries, but globally as well. Although written primarily for mathematics educators, this handbook will also be of interest to researchers of the history of education in general, as well as specialists in cultural and even social history.

This volume offers insights into the development of mathematical logic over the last century. Arising from a special session of the history of logic at an American Mathematical Society meeting, the chapters explore technical innovations, the philosophical consequences of work during the period, and the historical and social context in which the logicians worked. The discussions herein will appeal to mathematical logicians and historians of mathematics, as well as philosophers and historians of science.

The tremendous growth of the mathematical sciences in the early modern world was reflected contemporaneously in an increasingly sophisticated level of practical mathematics in fields such as merchants' accounts, instrument making, teaching, navigation, and gauging. In many ways, mathematics shaped the knowledge culture of the age, infiltrating workshops, dockyards, and warehouses, before extending through the factories of the Industrial Revolution to the trading companies and banks of the nineteenth century. While theoretical developments in the history of mathematics have been made the topic of numerous scholarly investigations, in many cases based around the work of key figures such as Descartes, Huygens, Leibniz, or Newton, practical mathematics, especially from the seventeenth century onwards, has been largely neglected. The present volume, comprising fifteen essays by leading authorities in the history of mathematics, seeks to fill this gap by exemplifying the richness, diversity, and breadth of mathematical practice from the seventeenth century through to the middle of the nineteenth century.

This compact, well-written history covers major mathematical ideas and techniques from the ancient Near East to 20th-century computer theory, surveying the works of Archimedes, Pascal, Gauss, Hilbert, and many others. "The author's ability as a first-class historian as well as an able mathematician has enabled him to produce a work which is unquestionably one of the best." — Nature.

The philosophy of mathematics can be traced back in time to the dawn of mathematics itself. The axiomatization of Euclid in "The Elements" did not hinder innovations in mathematical practice to develop outside the realm of the deductive method. In fact the history of mathematics shows a rich tapestry of practice that include visual, algorithmic, experimental, probabilistic and computational approaches. However the philosophy of mathematics as argued by Imre Lakatos suggests that the innovations and impasses in mathematical practice have remained more or less unacknowledged in philosophy. For instance mathematical argumentation was primarily the domain of theologians and medieval and postmedieval scholastics for over 1700 years after Aristotle. Similarly the study of logic became the purview of mathematical philosophy criticized by Reuben Hersh as "Quinean ping-pong". In two prior Springer books 18 Unconventional Essays on the Nature of Mathematics (Hersh,2006) and Humanizing Mathematics and its Philosophy (Sriraman, 2017), it is sufficiently clear that the philosophy of mathematics is no longer centered around it origins in theology and logic, but influences and is influenced by other domains. Today the philosophy of mathematics can be informed by computer scientists, historians, logicians, linguists, educators, physicists, psychologists, neuroscientists, statisticians and last but not least mathematicians. At the dawn of the 21st century we still have a cadre of scholars influenced first-hand by the likes of Quine and Brouwer, as well as those who were influenced by Imre Lakatos' seminal work Proofs and Refutations (in the 1970s) that espouse the views of practicing mathematicians. Pluralism is the avant-garde term in vogue today suggesting a "post- modern" view of mathematics that would have been frowned upon a century ago. The purpose of this unique Handbook is to unfold the transformation of the philosophy of mathematics from its origins in the history of mathem atical practice. In order to do so, chapters will describe different mathematical practices in different time periods of history and contrast it with the development of philosophy. The contributions will include scholars from other disciplines who have contributed to the richness of perspectives that abound the study of philosophy today. The Handbook aims to synthesize what is known, and what has unfolded but also offer directions in which the study of philosophy of mathematics as evident in increasingly diverse mathematical practices is headed. Different sections of the Handbook will offer insights into the origins, debates, methodologies and newer perspectives that characterize the discipline today. This Handbook is curated by an editorial advisory board consisting of leading scholars from the disciplines of mathematics, history and philosophy. Editorial Advisory Board Andrew Aberdein Jody Azzouni William Byers Carlo Cellucci Chandler Davis Paul Ernest Michele Friend Reuben Hersh Yuri Manin Athanase Papadopoulos Ulf Persson Kim Plofker John Stillwell David Tall.

In this Very Short Introduction, Jacqueline Stedall explores the rich historical and cultural diversity of mathematical endeavour from the distant past to the present day, using illustrative case studies drawn from a range of times and places; including early imperial China, the medieval Islamic world, and nineteenth-century Britain.

An entertaining and informative anthology of popular math writing from the Renaissance to cyberspace Despite what we may sometimes imagine, popular mathematics writing didn't begin with Martin Gardner. In fact, it has a rich tradition stretching back hundreds of years. This entertaining and enlightening antholog—the first of its kind—gathers nearly one hundred fascinating selections from the past 500 years of popular math writing, bringing to life a little-known side of math history. Ranging from the late fifteenth to the late twentieth century, and drawing from books, newspapers, magazines, and websites, A Wealth of Numbers includes recreational, classroom, and work mathematics; mathematical histories and biographies; accounts of higher mathematics; explanations of mathematical instruments; discussions of how math should be taught and learned; reflections on the place of math in the world; and math in fiction and humor. Featuring many tricks, games, problems, and puzzles, as well as much history and trivia, the selections include a sixteenth-century guide to making a horizontal sundial; "Newton for the Ladies" (1739); Leonhard Euler on the idea of velocity (1760); "Mathematical Toys" (1785); a poetic version of the rule of three (1792); "Lotteries and Mountebanks" (1801); Lewis Carroll on the game of logic (1887); "Maps and Mazes" (1892); "Einstein's Real Achievement" (1921); "Riddles in Mathematics" (1945); "New Math for Parents" (1966); and "PC Astronomy" (1997). Organized by thematic chapters, each selection is placed in context by a brief introduction. A unique window into the hidden history of popular mathematics, A Wealth of Numbers will provide many hours of fun and learning to anyone who loves popular mathematics and science.