Anachronisms in the History of Mathematics Essays on the Historical Interpretation of Mathematical Texts
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Contributors
- Figures
- Preface
- 1 Introduction: The historical interpretation of mathematical texts and the problem of anachronism
- 2 From reading rules to reading algorithms: textual anachronisms in the history of mathematics and their effects on interpretation
- 3 Anachronism and anachorism in the study of mathematics in India
- 4 On the need to re-examine the relationship between the mathematical sciences and philosophy in Greek antiquity
- 5 Productive anachronism: on mathematical reconstruction as a historiographical method
- 6 Anachronism in the Renaissance historiography of mathematics
- 7 Deceptive familiarity: differential equations in Leibniz and the Leibnizian school (1689–1736)
- 8 Euler and analysis: case studies and historiographical perspectives
- 9 Measuring past geometers: a history of non-metric projective anachronism
- 10 Anachronism: Bonola and non-Euclidean geometry
- 11 Anachronism and incommensurability:words, concepts, contexts, and intentions
- Index
1 - Introduction: The historical interpretation of mathematical texts and the problem of anachronism
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 19 July 2021
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Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Contributors
- Figures
- Preface
- 1 Introduction: The historical interpretation of mathematical texts and the problem of anachronism
- 2 From reading rules to reading algorithms: textual anachronisms in the history of mathematics and their effects on interpretation
- 3 Anachronism and anachorism in the study of mathematics in India
- 4 On the need to re-examine the relationship between the mathematical sciences and philosophy in Greek antiquity
- 5 Productive anachronism: on mathematical reconstruction as a historiographical method
- 6 Anachronism in the Renaissance historiography of mathematics
- 7 Deceptive familiarity: differential equations in Leibniz and the Leibnizian school (1689–1736)
- 8 Euler and analysis: case studies and historiographical perspectives
- 9 Measuring past geometers: a history of non-metric projective anachronism
- 10 Anachronism: Bonola and non-Euclidean geometry
- 11 Anachronism and incommensurability:words, concepts, contexts, and intentions
- Index
Summary
Different approaches to past mathematical texts are reviewed. The question addressed is: should we stress the continuity of past mathematics with the mathematics practiced today, or should we emphasize its difference, namely what makes it a product of a distant mathematical culture?
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- Chapter
- Information
- Anachronisms in the History of MathematicsEssays on the Historical Interpretation of Mathematical Texts, pp. 1 - 41Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2021