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The shaping of arithmetic after C.F. Gausss disquisitiones arithmeticae
Traces the profound effect Gauss’s masterpiece has had on mathematics over the past two centuries. … The shaping of arithmetic is a major accomplishment, one which will stand as an important reference work on the history of number theory for many years.The editors and authors deserve our thanks for their efforts."It’s a big book, with eighteen authors and almost six hundred pages, and it mixes the work of well-established scholars with that of recent Ph.D.’s.
Framing global mathematics : The international mathematical union between theorems and politics
This book is about the shaping of international relations in mathematics over the last two hundred years. It focusses on institutions and organizations that were created to frame the international dimension of mathematical research. Today, striking evidence of globalized mathematics is provided by countless international meetings and the worldwide repository ArXiv. The text follows the sinuous path that was taken to reach this state, from the long nineteenth century, through the two wars, to the present day. International cooperation in mathematics was well established by 1900, centered in Europe. The first International Mathematical Union, IMU, founded in 1920 and disbanded in 1932, reflected above all the trauma of WW I. Since 1950 the current IMU has played an increasing role in defining mathematical excellence, as is shown both in the historical narrative and by analyzing data about the International Congresses of Mathematicians. For each of the three periods discussed, interactions are explored between world politics, the advancement of scientific infrastructures, and the inner evolution of mathematics. Readers will thus take a new look at the place of mathematics in world culture, and how international organizations can make a difference. Aimed at mathematicians, historians of science, scientists, and the scientifically inclined general public.
