Mathematical Change in the 19th Century: Issues and Approaches
Topic
The 19th Century is the period during which the university-based
international mathematical community came into being. It is also a time
when mathematics changed profoundly, becoming more abstract, and
distancing
itself to some degree in its practice from the natural sciences. Historians writing in the 20th Century had a tendency to see these changes as necessary, as part of a process in which the essential concept-based nature
of mathematics emerged from a more applied background. In this paper we examine this notion with reference to some specific examples including work of Riemann, Weierstrass, Kronecker, Dedekind, Hermite, and Poincaré.
itself to some degree in its practice from the natural sciences. Historians writing in the 20th Century had a tendency to see these changes as necessary, as part of a process in which the essential concept-based nature
of mathematics emerged from a more applied background. In this paper we examine this notion with reference to some specific examples including work of Riemann, Weierstrass, Kronecker, Dedekind, Hermite, and Poincaré.
Speakers
Additional Information
Special PIMS Lectures at UVIC 2008
Tom Archibald (Mathematics, SFU)
Tom Archibald (Mathematics, SFU)