Oxford Figures: Eight Centuries of the Mathematical Sciences
John Fauvel, Raymond Flood, and Robin Wilson
Abstract
For eight centuries mathematics has been researched and studied at Oxford, and the subject and its teaching have undergone profound changes during that time. This is the story of the intellectual and social life of this community, and of its interactions with the wider world. This highly readable and beautifully illustrated book reveals the richness and influence of Oxford’s mathematical tradition and the fascinating characters that helped to shape it. The story begins with the founding of the University of Oxford and the establishing of the medieval curriculum, in which mathematics had an imp ... More
For eight centuries mathematics has been researched and studied at Oxford, and the subject and its teaching have undergone profound changes during that time. This is the story of the intellectual and social life of this community, and of its interactions with the wider world. This highly readable and beautifully illustrated book reveals the richness and influence of Oxford’s mathematical tradition and the fascinating characters that helped to shape it. The story begins with the founding of the University of Oxford and the establishing of the medieval curriculum, in which mathematics had an important role. The Black Death, the advent of printing, the Civil War, and the Newtonian revolution all had a great influence on the development of mathematics at Oxford. So too did many well-known figures: Roger Bacon, Henry Savile, Robert Hooke, Christopher Wren, Edmond Halley, Florence Nightingale, Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll), and G. H. Hardy, to name but a few. Later chapters bring us to the 20th century, with some entertaining reminiscences by Sir Michael Atiyah of the thirty years he spent as an Oxford mathematician. In this second edition the story is brought right up to the opening of the new Mathematical Institute in 2013 with a foreword from Marcus du Sautoy and recent developments from Peter M. Neumann.
Keywords:
History of mathematics,
Oxford University,
Oxford mathematics,
Oxford astronomy,
Oxford University traditions,
mathematical traditions
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2013 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780199681976 |
| Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: January 2014 |
DOI:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199681976.001.0001 |
Authors
Affiliations are at time of print publication.
John Fauvel, editor
Former Senior Lecturer in Mathematics at the Open University and a former President of the British Society for the History of Mathematics
Raymond Flood, editor
Gresham Professor of Geometry at Gresham College, London and Emeritus Fellow of Kellogg College, Oxford
Robin Wilson, editor
Robin Wilson is an Emeritus Professor of Pure Mathematics at the Open University, Emeritus Professor of Geometry at Gresham College, London, and a former Fellow of Keble College, Oxford
More
Less
