Ten “Laws” concerning patterns of change in the history of mathematics (original) (raw)

The Discipline of History and the “Modern Consensus in the Historiography of Mathematics”

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics, 2014

Teachers and students of mathematics often view history of mathematics as just mathematics as they know it, but in another form. This view is based on a misunderstanding of the nature of history of mathematics and the kind of knowledge it attempts to acquire. Unfortunately, it can also lead to a deep sense of disappointment with the history of mathematics itself, and, ultimately, a misunderstanding of the historical nature of mathematics. This kind of misunderstanding and the disappointment following from it-both raised to the level of resentment-run through the paper "A Critique of the Modern Consensus in the Historiography of Mathematics." My review of that paper, sent to me blind, became a response to it. In particular, this essay attempts to clarify the nature of the historical discipline and to show that author of the Critique ends up, in effect, wanting and not wanting history at the same time.

The Richness of the History of Mathematics

Archimedes Series 66, 2023

This colective book, edited by Karine Chemla, J Ferreirós, Lizhen Ji, Erhard Scholz & Chang Wang, is a unique introduction to historiographical questions concerning the history of mathematics, with essays by many leading scholars, aimed at guiding newcomers to the field. It provides multiple perspectives on mathematics, its role in culture, development, connections with other sciences, with philosophy, etc.

The Roles of Mathematics in the History of Science: The Mathematization Thesis

Transversal: International Journal for the Historiography of Science

In this paper, we present an analysis of the evolution of the history of science as a discipline focusing on the role of the mathematization of nature as a historiographical perspective. Our study is centered in the mathematization thesis, which considers the rise of a mathematical approach of nature in the 17th century as being the most relevant event for scientific development. We begin discussing Edmund Husserl whose work, despite being mainly philosophical, is relevant for having affected the emergence of the narrative of the mathematization of nature and due to its influence on Alexandre Koyré. Next, we explore Koyré, Dijksterhuis, and Burtt’s works, the historians from the 20th century responsible for the elaboration of the main narratives about the Scientific Revolution that put the mathematization of science as the protagonist of the new science. Then, we examine the reframing of the mathematization thesis with the narrative of two traditions developed by Thomas S. Kuhn and ...

History of Mathematics and History of Science: Some remarks concerning contextual framework

Educação Matemática Pesquisa, 14 (3, 2012): 363-385 , 2012

This essay is devoted to the contextual methodology in History of Mathematics. The author discusses the contextual approach given by new trends in historiography in history of science and suggests that this could help to renew the contextual framework in history of mathematics. Here we base our study on primary-sources research and survey. Special attention is given to a set of documents concerning mathematical instruments which could convey a new appreciation of mathematical practices in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

6-1-2002 History of Mathematics , an Intuitive Approach

2016

The main goal of this essay is to discuss, informally, an intuitive approach to the history of mathematics as an academic discipline. The initial point of departure includes the analysis of some traditional definitions of the concept of 'history' taken from standard dictionaries. This concise dissection attempts to suggest the complexity of the discipline.