History of Mathematics
History of Mathematics is a multidisciplinary subject with a strong presence in Oxford, spread across a number of departments, most notably the Mathematical Institute and the History Faculty. The research interests of the members of the group cover mathematics, its cultures and its impacts on culture from the Renaissance right up to the twentieth century.
Core research topics include the development of abstract algebra during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries (Christopher Hollings). Other interests are the historiography of ancient mathematics (Hollings), the mathematics of Ada Lovelace (Ursula Martin, Hollings), and twentieth-century mathematics, with a focus on British mathematics and G. H. Hardy (Damian Rössler). Away from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, much of the historical mathematical research in the History Faculty focuses on the place of mathematics in the transformation of intellectual culture during the early modern period (Philip Beeley, Benjamin Wardhaugh): the group has a strong background in the mathematics of seventeenth-century Europe, with studies of, for example, the correspondence of the seventeenth-century Savilian Professor of Geometry John Wallis and of the mathematical intelligencer John Collins (Beeley). The recent 'Reading Euclid' project sought to understand the place of Euclid's Elements within early modern British culture and education (Beeley, Wardhaugh).
Doctoral students associated with the group are Petra Stanković (Mathematical Institute), working on Soviet involvement in the International Congresses of Mathematicians and the International Mathematical Union, and Emma Baxter (Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages), who works on the relationship between literary and mathematical modernisms in early 20th century Russophone literature.
Others in Oxford with interests in the history of mathematics include Raymond Flood (Irish mathematics), Keith Hannabuss (nineteenth-century mathematics), Daniel Isaacson (the rise of modern logic, 1879–1931), Rob Iliffe (Newton and Newtonianism), Stephen Johnston (early modern practical mathematics and instruments), Matthew Landrus (Renaissance mathematics and the arts), and Robin Wilson (nineteenth-century mathematics, and the history of combinatorics).
The links below lead to some case studies of research carried out by members of the group:
- Mathematics and Politics: The International Congresses of Mathematicians
- Exploding the myths of Ada Lovelace’s mathematics
- Tinkering with postulates. How some mathematics is now redundant. Or is it?
- The Correspondence of Charles Hutton
- Oxford's female computing pioneers
- The Oslo International Congress of Mathematicians in 1936 and the first Fields Medals
- Changing attitudes towards ancient arithmetic: reconciling mathematics with Egyptology
- From natural philosophy to applied mathematics – 400 years of Sedleian Professors
- Mathematics everywhere
Seminars
The group holds a semiregular departmental seminar. These take place as part of Oxford’s wide range of activities in the history of science, technology and medicine more generally, for which the Oxford Centre for the History of Science, Medicine and Technology provides a focus.
Undergraduate study
Within the Mathematical Institute, the group offers the following undergraduate teaching:
- BO1 History of Mathematics for third-year mathematics undergraduates,
- BOE Extended Essay for third-year mathematics undergraduates,
- COD Dissertation for fourth-year mathematics undergraduates and students on the OMMS course.
Postgraduate study
The group welcomes applications for postgraduate study, which would be based either in the Mathematical Institute or the History Faculty, depending on the interests and background of the applicant. Avenues for study include the MSc or MPhil in History of Science, Medicine and Technology, or a DPhil in the History of Mathematics. Prospective applicants are encouraged to contact either Dr Christopher Hollings (Mathematical Institute) or Dr Benjamin Wardhaugh (History Faculty) to discuss options.
See also
British Society for the History of Mathematics
Oxford Centre for the History of Medicine Science and Technology