Making Mathematics in an Oral Culture: Göttingen in the Era of Klein and Hilbert

Rowe, David E.

doi:10.1017/s0269889704000067

Cited by 35 publications

(14 citation statements)

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“…Evidently, he valued the less formal form of exposition associated with oral exposition, a hallmark of the Göttingen tradition (Rowe, 2004). Still, Neugebauer grew up in Austria, not Prussia, which may help account for his playful sense of humor.…”

Section: Neugebauer's Cornell Lecturesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Otto Neugebauer’s Vision for Rewriting the History of Ancient Mathematics

Rowe¹

2013

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Les historiens des mathématiques ont longtemps exalté les réalisations des anciens Grecs, symbolisées par un seul nom, Euclide d’Alexandrie. Les treize livres qui composent ses Éléments occupent, dans les mathématiques grecques, une place comparable au Parthénon dans sa tradition architecturale. L’appréciation du classicisme grec a en outre été renforcée par l’idéal de la géométrie euclidienne, un style qui a persisté jusqu’en plein xixe siècle. Il a fallu attendre les premières décennies du xxe siècle pour qu’émerge une nouvelle image des mathématiques anciennes, proposée par les recherches pionnières d’Otto Neugebauer sur les mathématiques égyptiennes et surtout mésopotamiennes. Bien que fondée sur une analyse détaillée des sources primaires, le travail de Neugebauer était instruit par une large vision des sciences exactes des cultures antérieures aux Grecs. Il en vint donc à rompre avec la vision traditionnelle d’une science européenne hellénocentrique. Les analyses historiques de Neugebauer et son approche méthodologique, qui faisait plus de place aux techniques mathématiques tout en diminuant l’importance des commentaires philosophiques, fut l’objet d’attaques lorsqu’il émigra aux États-Unis en 1939.

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Section: Neugebauer's Cornell Lecturesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Otto Neugebauer’s Vision for Rewriting the History of Ancient Mathematics

Rowe¹

2013

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“…Even in Einstein's day, Newton stood at the apex of immortals within the temple of science. 31 Einstein's new theory of gravitation, however, did attract considerable interest among mathematicians (see Walter 1999, Rowe 2004a, and Rowe 2004b. 31 Six years later, all that changed.…”

Section: Einstein's Temple: the Myth Of Solitary Geniusmentioning

confidence: 99%

“… 31 Einstein's new theory of gravitation, however, did attract considerable interest among mathematicians (see Walter 1999, Rowe 2004a, and Rowe 2004b). …”

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confidence: 99%

Einstein and Relativity: What Price Fame?

Rowe

2012

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ArgumentEinstein's initial fame came in late 1919 with a dramatic breakthrough in his general theory of relativity. Through a remarkable confluence of events and circumstances, the mass media soon projected an image of the photogenic physicist as a bold new revolutionary thinker. With his theory of relativity Einstein had overthrown outworn ideas about space and time dating back to Newton's day, no small feat. While downplaying his reputation as a revolutionary, Einstein proved he was well cast for the role of mild-mannered scientific genius. Yet fame demanded its price. Surrounded by social and economic unrest in Berlin, he was caught between two worlds, one struggling to be born, another refusing to die. Far from withdrawing, he threw himself into the political fray to become a symbol for international reconciliation during the early Weimar Republic. A decade later, his public image acquired another layer when he reemerged as a Stoic sage and selfless humanitarian, a quasi-religious figure who saw himself as a modern-day Spinoza. Focusing on events of this period and the role of the German media in portraying them, this essay highlights the scientific and political undercurrents that drew Einstein into the public eye at a critical juncture in European history. Its broader aim is to show the import of these themes within the context of the vast literature on Einstein as well as the larger historiography of science.

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“…David Rowe highlights the shift of mathematics around 1900 from a written culture of largely isolated practitioners to an oral culture of practitioners who often knew each other by daily contact (Rowe 2004). Göttingen was an early example of the latter.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Poor Taste as a Bright Character Trait: Emmy Noether and the Independent Social Democratic Party

McLarty

2005

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ArgumentThe creation of algebraic topology required "all the energy and the temperament of Emmy Noether" according to topologists Paul Alexandroff and Heinz Hopf. Alexandroff stressed Noether's radical pro-Russian politics, which her colleagues found in "poor taste"; yet he found "a bright trait of character." She joined the Independent Social Democrats (USPD) in 1919. They were tiny in Göttingen until that year when their vote soared as they called for a dictatorship of the proletariat. The Minister of the Army and many Göttingen students called them Bolshevist terrorists. Noether's colleague Richard Courant criticized USPD radicalism. Her colleague Hermann Weyl downplayed her radicalism and that view remains influential but the evidence favors Alexandroff. Weyl was ambivalent in parallel ways about her mathematics and her politics. He deeply admired her yet he found her abstractness and her politics excessive and even dangerous.

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Making Mathematics in an Oral Culture: Göttingen in the Era of Klein and Hilbert

Cited by 35 publications

References 30 publications

Otto Neugebauer’s Vision for Rewriting the History of Ancient Mathematics

Otto Neugebauer’s Vision for Rewriting the History of Ancient Mathematics

Einstein and Relativity: What Price Fame?

Poor Taste as a Bright Character Trait: Emmy Noether and the Independent Social Democratic Party

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