New Books in Mathematics
Marshall Poe
Categorias: Ciencia y medicina
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The stereotype of the solitary mathematician is widespread, but practicing users and producers of mathematics know well that our work depends heavily on our historical and contemporary fellow travelers. Yet we may not appreciate how our work also extends beyond us into our physical and societal environments. Kevin Lambert takes what might be a first crack at this perspective in his book Symbols and Things: Material Mathematics in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2021). An historian of science, Dr. Lambert has shifted in his view of mathematics as a language of science to one as a material practice. Expanding on ideas from historians, archeologists, philosophers, and other scholars of human activity, and through several interweaving vignettes of mathematical work during a technologically dynamic period in British history, he argues that mathematical practice, communication, and even thought occur to a large degree outside the bodies of the persons performing them. In this interview, we explore Kevin's journal to and through this book project. We discuss how such ideas as Andy Clark's extended mind informed his approach, and we review several of the lively stories—the co-creation of the long-distance mathematical community with the research journal, Peacock's museological argument for the adoption of symbolic algebra, and the foundational entanglement of electromagnetism, quaternions, and the philosophy of space, among others—he drew out of historical and archival sources. (Here i cannot resist mentioning Tait's collection of his intensive correspondence with Hamilton that transformed how quaternions were applied in physics and even conceptualized as mathematical objects.) We close with some thoughts on our own materially extended cognitive work and where Kevin's interests are currently driving him. Suggested companion works: • ChatGPT, as a cutting-edge extension of human thought • work by Courtney Ann Roby, including the forthcoming The Mechanical Tradition of Hero of Alexandria: Strategies of Reading from Antiquity to the Early Modern Period • Algorithmic Modernity: Mechanizing Thought and Action, 1500-2000, edited by Morgan G. Ames and Massimo Mazzotti • work by Emily Miller Bonney, for example "A Reconsideration of Depositional Practices in Early Bronze Age Crete" Kevin Lambert is a historian of science and mathematics in the early modern and modern periods and professor in the liberal studies department at California State University, Fullerton. His recent book Symbols and Things explores mathematics as a way of thinking outside the body and through the material environment. He also recently published a chapter in the volume Algorithmic Modernity that traces the genealogy of algorithmic practices. He is now working on the problem of writing longue durée histories of science. He is close to completing a paper called “Malthus in the Landscape” that investigates the temporalities of global histories. He is also exploring the problem of writing a global history of the early modern sciences without the prism of the so called “Scientific Revolution.” His work can be found on ResearchGate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/mathematics
Episodios anteriores
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165 - Kevin Lambert, "Symbols and Things: Material Mathematics in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries" (U Pittsburgh Press, 2021) Mon, 15 Apr 2024
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164 - Ismar Volić, "Making Democracy Count: How Mathematics Improves Voting, Electoral Maps, and Representation" (Princeton UP, 2024) Thu, 01 Feb 2024
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163 - A Better Way to Buy Books Tue, 12 Sep 2023
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162 - Barbara Sattler, "The Concept of Motion in Ancient Greek Thought: Foundations in Logic, Method, and Mathematics" (Cambridge UP, 2020) Mon, 28 Aug 2023
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161 - Lawrence Goldman, "Victorians and Numbers: Statistics and Society in Nineteenth Century Britain" (Oxford UP, 2022) Fri, 25 Aug 2023
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160 - The Outer Limits of Reason: What Science, Mathematics, and Logic Cannot Tell Us Mon, 31 Jul 2023
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159 - Athene Donald, "Not Just for the Boys: Why We Need More Women in Science" (Oxford UP, 2023) Wed, 07 Jun 2023
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158 - Justin L. Bergner, "Solving the Price Is Right: How Mathematics Can Improve Your Decisions On and Off the Set of America's Celebrated Game Show" (Prometheus Books, 2023) Wed, 19 Apr 2023
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157 - Shelly M. Jones, "Women Who Count: Honoring African American Women Mathematicians" (American Mathematical Society, 2019) Sun, 16 Apr 2023
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156 - Alice and Bob Meet the Wall of Fire and A Prime Number Conspiracy Sat, 15 Apr 2023
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155 - Jeffrey Carpenter and Andrea Robbett, "Game Theory and Behavior" (MIT Press, 2022) Sat, 14 Jan 2023
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154 - James D. Stein, "Seduced by Mathematics: The Enduring Fascination of Mathematics" (World Scientific, 2022) Math Mon, 19 Dec 2022
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153 - John Allen Paulos, "Who's Counting?: Uniting Numbers and Narratives with Stories from Pop Culture, Puzzles, Politics, and More" (Prometheus, 2022) Sun, 18 Dec 2022
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152 - Alfred S. Posamentier, "The Secret Lives of Numbers: Numerals and Their Peculiarities in Mathematics and Beyond" (Prometheus Books, 2022) Wed, 23 Nov 2022
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151 - Probability Tue, 22 Nov 2022
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150 - Alexandr Draganov, "Mathematical Tools for Real-World Applications: A Gentle Introduction for Students and Practitioners" (MIT Press, 2022) Fri, 11 Nov 2022
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149 - Andrew Fiss, "Performing Math: A History of Communication and Anxiety in the American Mathematics Classroom" (Rutgers UP, 2020) Wed, 09 Nov 2022
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148 - David Kaiser, "Well, Doc, You're In: Freeman Dyson’s Journey through the Universe" (MIT Press, 2022) Wed, 02 Nov 2022
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147 - John Stillwell, "The Story of Proof: Logic and the History of Mathematics" (Princeton UP, 2022) Mon, 31 Oct 2022
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146 - Karen Hunger Parshall, "The New Era in American Mathematics, 1920–1950" (Princeton UP, 2022) Mon, 12 Sep 2022
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145 - Peter Winkler, "Mathematical Puzzles" (A K Peters, 2020) Tue, 23 Aug 2022
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144 - Brian Cafarella, "Community College Mathematics: Past, Present, and Future" (CRC Press, 2022) Tue, 23 Aug 2022
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143 - Joseph Mileti, "Modern Mathematical Logic" (Cambridge UP, 2022) Mon, 15 Aug 2022
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142 - Ronald Meester and Klaas Slooten, "Probability and Forensic Evidence: Theory, Philosophy, and Applications" (Cambridge UP, 2021) Tue, 09 Aug 2022
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141 - Andrew Witt, "Formulations: Architecture, Mathematics, Culture" (MIT Press, 2022) Fri, 08 Jul 2022
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140 - Scott Gehlbach, "Formal Models of Domestic Politics" (Cambridge UP, 2021) Thu, 30 Jun 2022
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139 - Seth Stephens-Davidowitz, "Don't Trust Your Gut: Using Data to Get What You Really Want in LIfe" (Dey Street Books, 2022) Wed, 22 Jun 2022
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138 - Robert-Jan Smits and Rachael Pells, "Plan S for Shock: Science. Shock. Solution. Speed." (Ubiquity Press, 2022) Tue, 21 Jun 2022
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137 - Nikita Braguinski, "Mathematical Music: From Antiquity to Music AI" (Focal Press, 2022) Thu, 09 Jun 2022
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136 - Mindy Capaldi, "Teaching Mathematics Through Games" (American Mathematical Society, 2021) Tue, 10 May 2022
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135 - Dashun Wang and Albert-László Barabási, "The Science of Science" (Cambridge UP, 2021) Wed, 13 Apr 2022
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134 - Hilary Glasman-Deal, "Science Research Writing For Native and Non-Native Speakers of English" (World Scientific Publishing Europe, 2020) Thu, 31 Mar 2022
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133 - Thomas Haigh and Paul E. Ceruzzi, "A New History of Modern Computing" (MIT Press, 2021) Wed, 30 Mar 2022
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132 - Scott Timcke, "Algorithms and the End of Politics: How Technology Shapes 21st-Century American Life" (Bristol UP, 2021) Mon, 28 Mar 2022
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131 - N. J. Enfield, "Language Vs. Reality: Why Language Is Good for Lawyers and Bad for Scientists" (MIT Press, 2022) Wed, 23 Mar 2022
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130 - Kate Crawford, "The Atlas of AI: Power, Politics, and the Planetary Costs of Artificial Intelligence" (Yale UP, 2021) Mon, 21 Mar 2022
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129 - Stephen B. Heard, "The Scientist’s Guide to Writing: How to Write More Easily and Effectively Throughout Your Scientific Career, 2nd ed." (Princeton UP, 2022) Mon, 21 Mar 2022
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128 - Florian Jaton, "The Constitution of Algorithms: Ground-Truthing, Programming, Formulating" (MIT Press, 2021) Wed, 16 Mar 2022
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127 - Tony Veale, "Your Wit Is My Command: Building AIs with a Sense of Humor" (MIT Press, 2021) Wed, 16 Feb 2022
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126 - Sarah Brayne, "Predict and Surveil: Data, Discretion, and the Future of Policing" (Oxford UP, 2020) Fri, 04 Mar 2022
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125 - Aubrey Clayton, "Bernoulli's Fallacy: Statistical Illogic and the Crisis of Modern Science" (Columbia UP, 2021) Thu, 10 Feb 2022
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124 - Brian Cafarella, "Breaking Barriers: Student Success in Community College Mathematics" (A K Peters, 2021) Tue, 01 Feb 2022
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123 - Helga Nowotny, "In AI We Trust: Power, Illusion and Control of Predictive Algorithms" (Polity, 2021) Thu, 20 Jan 2022
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122 - Thomas Huckle and Tobias Neckel, "Bits and Bugs: A Scientific and Historical Review of Software Failures in Computational Science" (SIAM, 2019) Mon, 17 Jan 2022
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121 - David Sulzer, "Music, Math, and Mind: The Physics and Neuroscience of Music" (Columbia UP, 2021) Thu, 30 Dec 2021
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120 - James Wynn and G. Mitchell Reyes, "Arguing with Numbers: The Intersections of Rhetoric and Mathematics" (Pennsylvania State UP, 2021) Tue, 07 Dec 2021
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119 - Ian Stewart, “The Joy of Mathematics” (Open Agenda, 2021) Fri, 12 Nov 2021
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118 - Vicky Neale, "Why Study Mathematics?" (London Publishing Partnership, 2020) Fri, 05 Nov 2021
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117 - Brian Clegg, "Ten Patterns That Explain the Universe" (MIT Press, 2021) Tue, 28 Sep 2021
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116 - Chris Bleakley, "Poems That Solve Puzzles: The History and Science of Algorithms" (Oxford UP, 2020) Mon, 27 Sep 2021