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Facets of the cultural history of mathematics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 July 2009

Hansjörg Geiges
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Abstract

This article highlights the position of mathematics within general culture at various stages of the development of Western civilization. Special emphasis is given to the role of mathematics in Greek philosophy, the influence of mathematics on Gothic architecture and the place of mathematics in 17th and 18th century society. Literary quotations illustrate the shifts in the view of mathematics in society.

Type
Research Article
Information
European Review , Volume 8 , Issue 4 , October 2000 , pp. 487 - 497
Copyright
Copyright © Academia Europaea 2000

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References

1.Vitruvius, (1999) Ten Books on Architecture, Rowland, I. D. and Howe, T. N. (eds), (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), p. 75. I first learned Vitruvius' story about Aristippus from the beautiful book by J. L. Heilbron (1998) Geometry Civilized: History, Culture, and Technique (Oxford: Clarendon Press).Google Scholar
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4. ‘Tripos’ is a name derived from the three-legged stool on which medieval undergraduates used to sit. In Cambridge it has come to denote a course of study.Google Scholar
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20. Quoted after Heilbron, op. cit., p. 17.Google Scholar
21. For this issue and the relevance of evolutionary psychology cf. the discussion in Pinker, S. (1998) How the Mind Works (London: Penguin Books) pp. 338–342.Google Scholar
22. This information is taken from the article ‘Throwing away a part of our universe’ by C. Willis, Financial Times, 11 09 1999.Google Scholar