Approaches to the History of Mathematics

Modern mathematicians have a great sense of ownership where the history of their discipline is concerned.  They take pride in the subject’s antiquity, and trumpet the supposed continuity of mathematical development in contrast to the constant revision of other disciplines.  Undergraduate courses in mathematics are laced with historical anecdotes about the great mathematicians of the past that serve to initiate students into a wider mathematical culture.  But for all its usefulness in pedagogy and in community building, the history that is used in this way is problematic from the point of view of historical scholarship.  It often lacks nuance or is divorced from wider contexts.  An internalist concern for mathematical detail can frequently predominate, and a Eurocentric view of mathematical development tends to be reinforced.  Although the tide is turning, the study of the history of mathematics has been slow to embrace the newer methodologies employed in the history of science more broadly.

This option paper considers the varied ways in which the history of mathematics has been studied, from the sometimes skewed perspectives of mathematicians (which may nevertheless serve an important didactic or other purpose) to the often more subtle views and ideas brought in from other disciplines.  Key themes will include the debate about the putative cross-cultural (and cross-temporal) nature of mathematics and the risks of imposing modern mathematical ideas and attitudes on the actors of the past.