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A Mathematician's Villanelle, Gizem Karaali

Pomona Faculty Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Philosophy Of Science After Feminism By Janet Kourany, Gizem Karaali

Pomona Faculty Publications and Research

Janet Kourany’s book is a strange one: published by Oxford University Press (as a part of its Studies in Feminist Philosophy series), it is an academically oriented book, but reading it, you sense that this is not yet another theoretical monograph. For Kourany has her ax to grind, and more importantly she has a program to promote. The program is for philosophers of science and is motivated and encouraged by the amazing work done in the past few decades by feminist scientists and feminist scholars of science, technology, and society. In the following I will try to explain why I …

Newton, Maclaurin, And The Authority Of Mathematics, Judith V. Grabiner

Pitzer Faculty Publications and Research

Sir Isaac Newton revolutionized physics and astronomy in his Principia. How did he do it? Would his method work on any area of inquiry, not only in science, but also about society and religion? We look at how some Newtonians, most notably Colin Maclaurin, combined sophisticated mathematical modeling and empirical data in what has come to be called the "Newtonian Style." We argue that this style was responsible not only for Maclaurin’s scientific success but for his ability to solve problems ranging from taxation to insurance to theology. We show how Maclaurin’s work strengthened the prestige of Newtonianism and …

Mathematical Constance (A Poem Dedicated To Constance Reid), Arthur T. Benjamin

All HMC Faculty Publications and Research

Mathematical Constance (A Poem Dedicated to Constance Reid)

I think that I shall never see

A constant lovelier than e,

Whose digits are too great too state,

They're 2.71828…

And e has such amazing features

It's loved by all (but mostly teachers).

With all of e's great properties

Most integrals are done with … ease.

Theorems are proved by fools like me

But only Euler could make an e.

I suppose, though, if I had to try

To choose another constant, I

Might offer i or phi or pi.

But none of those would satisfy.

Of all the …

The Centrality Of Mathematics In The History Of Western Thought, Judith V. Grabiner

Pitzer Faculty Publications and Research

This article explores the interplay of mathematics and philosophy in Western thought as well as applications to other fields.

The Changing Concept Of Change: The Derivative From Fermat To Weierstrass, Judith V. Grabiner

Pitzer Faculty Publications and Research

Historically speaking, there were four steps in the development of today's concept of the derivative, which I list here in chronological order. The derivative was first used; it was then discovered; it was then explored and developed; and it was finally defined. That is, examples of what we now recognize as derivatives first were used on an ad hoc basis in solving particular problems; then the general concept lying behind them these uses was identified (as part of the invention of calculus); then many properties of the derivative were explained and developed in applications both to …

Mathematics In America: The First Hundred Years, Judith V. Grabiner

Pitzer Faculty Publications and Research

There are two main questions I shall discuss in this paper. First, why was American mathematics so weak from 1776 to 1876? Second, and much more important, how did what happened from 1776-1876 produce an American mathematics respectable by international standards by the end of the nineteenth century? We will see that the "weakness" -at least as measured by the paucity of great names- co-existed with the active building both of mathematics education and of a mathematical community which reached maturity in the 1890's.

Is Mathematical Truth Time-Dependent?, Judith V. Grabiner

Pitzer Faculty Publications and Research

Another such mathematical revolution occurred between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and was focused primarily on the calculus. This change was a rejection of the mathematics of powerful techniques and novel results in favor of the mathematics of clear definitions and rigorous proofs. Because this change, however important it may have been for mathematicians themselves, is not often discussed by historians and philosophers, its revolutionary character is not widely understood. In this paper, I shall first try to show that this major change did occur. Then, I shall investigate what brought it about. Once we have done this, we can …