In the 18th century, the field of mathematics underwent profound changes. Nowhere is this more evident than in the algebraic foundation of differential calculus and its emergence as the leading mathematical discipline of the time. These and other developments propelled mathematics into new areas of application in the natural sciences and in technology—and into the public imagination more generally, as advanced mathematical concepts found their way into school curricula, philosophy, art, and literature. This symposium examines the multifarious ways in which mathematics shaped the cultural history of the era.

Speakers: David Bellhouse, London, Ontario; Jip van Besouw, Brussels; Franziska Bomski, Potsdam; Maarten Bullynck, Paris; Jeanne Peiffer, Paris; Helmut Pulte, Bochum; David E. Rowe, Mainz; Jane Wess, Edinburgh

Program

Thursday, June 13, 2019

7:00 pm
Opening

7:15 pm
Maarten Bullynck, Paris
David E. Rowe, Mainz
A Global and Cultural History of Mathematics. Aims and Challenges of a 6-Volume Project

Friday, June 14, 2019

10:00 am
Jeanne Peiffer, Paris
Inventing Mathematics in the 18th Century. Challenges and Disciplines

11:00 am
David Bellhouse, London, On.
Jip van Besouw, Brussels
Mathematics and Worldviews. Newtonianism and Probability in the 18th Century

12:30 pm
Franziska Bomski, Potsdam
The Art of Abstraction. Poetic Reflections on Mathematics

3:00 pm
Helmut Pulte, Bochum
A Universal Key to the World. On the Significance of the Infinitesimal Calculus

4:30 pm
Jane Wess, Edinburgh
From Newton to Newcomen. Mathematics and Technology in the Western World

5:30 pm
Maarten Bullynck, Paris
Numeracy and the Mathematical Profession in the 18th Century