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History of Mathematics
From: London School of Economics and Political Science
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 he golden age of mathematical research at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland began in the fifteenth century, when the four-year degree in arts took in 13-year-old students to study Aristotle's works on logic, physics and natural philosophy and metaphysics. Some years down the line, the mathematics department at this same university plays host to an astonishingly comprehensive website dedicated to the history of this subject (www-groups.dcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/~history/). |
Prof. Edmund Robertson, head of the School of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of St. Andrews, and a colleague at the department, Dr. John O'Connor, created the History of Mathematics website as part of teaching software they had developed: the MacTutor System. O'Connor says, "We are both enthusiasts on the history of mathematics and we originally included a hypertext version of some biographies and other mathematical topics as part of our MacTutor teaching software." When in 1994 they won the European Academic Software Award and the judges particularly praised their coverage of the history of mathematics, they decided to take the project a step further. "We noticed that access to the Web was becoming important and that what we had done seemed ideal for wider dissemination, so we adapted our content for use on the Internet." |
The MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive includes the biography of about 1,450 mathematicians, from the eleventh-century algebraist Abu Kamil Shiya, otherwise known as the "calculator from Egypt," to Albert Einstein. O'Connor adds, "Our coverage is strongest in the areas closest to our own interests, but we believe we have included all the major figures, and we constantly receive suggestions for further biographies and we do what we can to include these extra people." Each biography is meticulously cross-referenced, so you can search alphabetically, chronologically, by date of birth and indeed by place of birth. Furthermore, each biography features a list of references, links to essays on related topics, images and website recommendations where available. This is not to mention the time lines that enable the interested user to ascertain which mathematicians' lives overlapped. |
Robertson and O'Connor are very clear about what they hope to achieve with this website. "We are very keen to foster interest in the history of mathematics, and the worldwide usage of our site has encouraged us to continue to expand and improve it." O'Connor adds, "We believe that the history of the subject does help to make mathematics more 'fun' and that seeing how different areas have developed helps with understanding them. Seeing the 'human face' behind the technicalities is a valuable way of fitting mathematics into its cultural background." |
So, articles on subjects ranging from the beginning of the quantum age to squaring the circle and doubling the cube are both accessible and informative. And the site provides spatial diversion in the Famous Curves Index. This feature, which includes curves enigmatically named Conchoid of de Sluze and the Witch of Agnesi, provides drawings of 66 famous "curves," their history and associated mathematical curves. If your browser is capable of handling Java, you have the option of experimenting and interacting with these curves. For those merely interested in daily trivia, there is also the opportunity to find out which mathematicians were born and died on the day of your visit to the site. This approach certainly seems to have worked. Robertson and O'Connor have found that "Many of our users who find us through a search engine looking for a particular topic stay and browse extensively." |
Indeed, one of the most appealing aspects of the site is the ease of navigation. At the bottom of each page is a set of links to all the major sections. The site is designed like a Venn diagram, which means you can access one biography or subject from an infinite number of angles. O'Connor finally points out that much of the content on the website is in fact unique: "Our site contains much information which is not available even in a large library and which cannot be found anywhere else on the Web." |
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