Writing the History of Mathematics: Its Historical Development

Writing the History of Mathematics provides both an intellectual and a social history of the development of the subject from the first such effort written in ancient Greece to recent efforts in the 20th century. A special project of the International Commission on History of Mathematics, this work is the result of more than ten years of collaboration by a team of 32 experts, each writing about the history of mathematics in their own countries or regions, and drawing upon extensive research and archival study. In addition to individuals, such institutions as universities, academies, institutes, libraries, and the like are also covered, including journals, encyclopedias, and other collective projects that promote history of mathematics. The book also includes portraits of twenty-five historians of mathematics.

As an historiographic monograph, this book offers the first detailed survey of the professional evolution and significance of an entire discipline devoted to the history of science. Basically, Writing the History of Mathematics provides both an intellectual and a social history of the development of the subject from the first such effort written by the ancient Greek author Eudemus in the Fourth Century BC, to the founding of the international journal, Historia Mathematica, by Kenneth O. May in the early 1970s. A special project of the International Commission on History of Mathematics, this work is the result of more than ten years of collaboration by a team of 32 experts, each writing about the history of mathematics in their own countries or regions, and drawing upon extensive research and archival study.

Divided into three parts, Writing the History of Mathematics begins with country-by-country surveys from ancient times to the end of the 20th century, covering virtually every part of the world where the history of mathematics has been written. In addition to individuals, such institutions as universities, academies, institutes, libraries, and the like are also covered, including journals, encyclopedias, and other collective projects that promote history of mathematics. The second part of the book contains biographies of 300 historians of mathematics, along with bibliographies of their works and relevant biographical sources. The third part of the book provides a comprehensive bibliography of the most important literature devoted to the history of mathematics in Western languages. The book also includes portraits of twenty-five historians of mathematics.