Material and embodied practices of people doing mathematics, symbolic logic, and calculation
Dear All, I’m wondering if you could point me to some references that treat the material and embodied practices — like writing, reading, publishing, lecturing — of people doing mathematics, symbolic logic, and calculation. I’m interested particularly in the era *before* the widespread use of electronic computers. Best wishes, David +++++++++++++++ David C. Brock dcb@dcbrock.net 40 Russell Street, Greenfield, MA 01301 Mobile: 413-522-3578 Skype: dcbrock Twitter: @dcbrock Pronouns: he, him, his
Depending on what you mean by embodied practices, my colleague Ellen Abrams <https://ellenabrams.org/> just finished a great dissertation on masculinity and American mathematics in the first half of the 20th c. that fits this bill. See her article “An Inalienable Prerogative of a Liberated Spirit: Postulating American Mathematics. <https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/26375451.2020.1805934>” British Journal for the History of Mathematics (2020): 1-21. Jeff On Wed, Mar 3, 2021 at 8:46 AM David C. Brock <dcb@dcbrock.net> wrote:
Dear All,
I’m wondering if you could point me to some references that treat the material and embodied practices — like writing, reading, publishing, lecturing — of people doing mathematics, symbolic logic, and calculation.
I’m interested particularly in the era *before* the widespread use of electronic computers.
Best wishes,
David +++++++++++++++ David C. Brock dcb@dcbrock.net 40 Russell Street, Greenfield, MA 01301 Mobile: 413-522-3578 Skype: dcbrock Twitter: @dcbrock Pronouns: he, him, his
_______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. Opinions expressed here are those of the member posting and are not reviewed, edited, or endorsed by SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/ and you can change your subscription options at http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org
-- Jeffrey Mathias AHA/NASA History of Space Technology Fellow PhD Candidate Department of Science and Technology Studies Cornell University jeffreymathias.info
Thank you very much, Jeff. I guess I’m thinking of the kinds of things you would see and hear people doing as they were “doing” mathematics, symbolic logic, and calculation. Best wishes, David +++++++++++++++ David C. Brock dcb@dcbrock.net 40 Russell Street, Greenfield, MA 01301 Mobile: 413-522-3578 Skype: dcbrock Twitter: @dcbrock Pronouns: he, him, his
On Mar 3, 2021, at 9:33 AM, Jeffrey Mathias <jm2499@cornell.edu> wrote:
Depending on what you mean by embodied practices, my colleague Ellen Abrams <https://ellenabrams.org/> just finished a great dissertation on masculinity and American mathematics in the first half of the 20th c. that fits this bill. See her article “An Inalienable Prerogative of a Liberated Spirit: Postulating American Mathematics. <https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/26375451.2020.1805934>” British Journal for the History of Mathematics (2020): 1-21.
Jeff
On Wed, Mar 3, 2021 at 8:46 AM David C. Brock <dcb@dcbrock.net <mailto:dcb@dcbrock.net>> wrote: Dear All,
I’m wondering if you could point me to some references that treat the material and embodied practices — like writing, reading, publishing, lecturing — of people doing mathematics, symbolic logic, and calculation.
I’m interested particularly in the era *before* the widespread use of electronic computers.
Best wishes,
David +++++++++++++++ David C. Brock dcb@dcbrock.net <mailto:dcb@dcbrock.net> 40 Russell Street, Greenfield, MA 01301 Mobile: 413-522-3578 Skype: dcbrock Twitter: @dcbrock Pronouns: he, him, his
_______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org <http://sigcis.org/>, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. Opinions expressed here are those of the member posting and are not reviewed, edited, or endorsed by SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/ <http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/> and you can change your subscription options at http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org <http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org>
-- Jeffrey Mathias AHA/NASA History of Space Technology Fellow PhD Candidate Department of Science and Technology Studies Cornell University jeffreymathias.info <http://jeffreymathias.info/>
Hi David, Matthew Jones’ Reckoning With Matter is brilliant on exactly these issues. https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/R/bo24836963.html <https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/R/bo24836963.html> Be well, Brian — Brian Justie b1@ucla.edu PhD Student, Department of Information Studies Researcher, UCLA Labor Center
On Mar 3, 2021, at 6:37 AM, David C. Brock <dcb@dcbrock.net> wrote:
Thank you very much, Jeff.
I guess I’m thinking of the kinds of things you would see and hear people doing as they were “doing” mathematics, symbolic logic, and calculation.
Best wishes,
David +++++++++++++++ David C. Brock dcb@dcbrock.net <mailto:dcb@dcbrock.net> 40 Russell Street, Greenfield, MA 01301 Mobile: 413-522-3578 Skype: dcbrock Twitter: @dcbrock Pronouns: he, him, his
On Mar 3, 2021, at 9:33 AM, Jeffrey Mathias <jm2499@cornell.edu <mailto:jm2499@cornell.edu>> wrote:
Depending on what you mean by embodied practices, my colleague Ellen Abrams <https://ellenabrams.org/> just finished a great dissertation on masculinity and American mathematics in the first half of the 20th c. that fits this bill. See her article “An Inalienable Prerogative of a Liberated Spirit: Postulating American Mathematics. <https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/26375451.2020.1805934>” British Journal for the History of Mathematics (2020): 1-21.
Jeff
On Wed, Mar 3, 2021 at 8:46 AM David C. Brock <dcb@dcbrock.net <mailto:dcb@dcbrock.net>> wrote: Dear All,
I’m wondering if you could point me to some references that treat the material and embodied practices — like writing, reading, publishing, lecturing — of people doing mathematics, symbolic logic, and calculation.
I’m interested particularly in the era *before* the widespread use of electronic computers.
Best wishes,
David +++++++++++++++ David C. Brock dcb@dcbrock.net <mailto:dcb@dcbrock.net> 40 Russell Street, Greenfield, MA 01301 Mobile: 413-522-3578 Skype: dcbrock Twitter: @dcbrock Pronouns: he, him, his
_______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org <http://sigcis.org/>, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. Opinions expressed here are those of the member posting and are not reviewed, edited, or endorsed by SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/ <http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/> and you can change your subscription options at http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org <http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org>
-- Jeffrey Mathias AHA/NASA History of Space Technology Fellow PhD Candidate Department of Science and Technology Studies Cornell University jeffreymathias.info <http://jeffreymathias.info/>
This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. Opinions expressed here are those of the member posting and are not reviewed, edited, or endorsed by SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/ and you can change your subscription options at http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org
Hi David, This is a great piece by Jason Puskar that looks at embodied calculation by studying finger counting practices: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1461444819843300?journalCode=nm... Hope this helps! Regards, Rachel On Wed, Mar 3, 2021, 8:45 AM David C. Brock <dcb@dcbrock.net> wrote:
Dear All,
I’m wondering if you could point me to some references that treat the material and embodied practices — like writing, reading, publishing, lecturing — of people doing mathematics, symbolic logic, and calculation.
I’m interested particularly in the era *before* the widespread use of electronic computers.
Best wishes,
David +++++++++++++++ David C. Brock dcb@dcbrock.net 40 Russell Street, Greenfield, MA 01301 Mobile: 413-522-3578 Skype: dcbrock Twitter: @dcbrock Pronouns: he, him, his
_______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. Opinions expressed here are those of the member posting and are not reviewed, edited, or endorsed by SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/ and you can change your subscription options at http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org
Hello David, I highly recommend Juliette Kennedy's work on mathematical drawing on this point—this essay in particular discusses drafting, scratch notes, drawing at the blackboard, etc. Kennedy, Juliette. “Notes on the Syntax and Semantics Distinction, or Three Moments in the Life of the Mathematical Drawing.” In What Is a Mathematical Concept?, edited by Alf Coles, Elizabeth de Freitas, and Nathalie Sinclair, 55–75. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2017. https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/what-is-a-mathematical-concept/notes-on... . Best, Sam On Wed, Mar 3, 2021 at 8:46 AM David C. Brock <dcb@dcbrock.net> wrote:
Dear All,
I’m wondering if you could point me to some references that treat the material and embodied practices — like writing, reading, publishing, lecturing — of people doing mathematics, symbolic logic, and calculation.
I’m interested particularly in the era *before* the widespread use of electronic computers.
Best wishes,
David +++++++++++++++ David C. Brock dcb@dcbrock.net 40 Russell Street, Greenfield, MA 01301 Mobile: 413-522-3578 Skype: dcbrock Twitter: @dcbrock Pronouns: he, him, his
_______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. Opinions expressed here are those of the member posting and are not reviewed, edited, or endorsed by SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/ and you can change your subscription options at http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org
-- Sam P. Kellogg he/him // MCC, NYU <http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/mcc/> // samkellogg.com
This (by a colleague) is brilliant on embodied scientific practices in the 18th century and their discursive representation: https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=29606 Tita Chico, *The Experimental Imagination: Literary Knowledge and Science in the British Enlightenment* On Wed, Mar 3, 2021 at 10:09 AM Sam Kellogg <samkellogg@gmail.com> wrote:
Hello David,
I highly recommend Juliette Kennedy's work on mathematical drawing on this point—this essay in particular discusses drafting, scratch notes, drawing at the blackboard, etc.
Kennedy, Juliette. “Notes on the Syntax and Semantics Distinction, or Three Moments in the Life of the Mathematical Drawing.” In What Is a Mathematical Concept?, edited by Alf Coles, Elizabeth de Freitas, and Nathalie Sinclair, 55–75. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2017. https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/what-is-a-mathematical-concept/notes-on... .
Best, Sam
On Wed, Mar 3, 2021 at 8:46 AM David C. Brock <dcb@dcbrock.net> wrote:
Dear All,
I’m wondering if you could point me to some references that treat the material and embodied practices — like writing, reading, publishing, lecturing — of people doing mathematics, symbolic logic, and calculation.
I’m interested particularly in the era *before* the widespread use of electronic computers.
Best wishes,
David +++++++++++++++ David C. Brock dcb@dcbrock.net 40 Russell Street, Greenfield, MA 01301 Mobile: 413-522-3578 Skype: dcbrock Twitter: @dcbrock Pronouns: he, him, his
_______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. Opinions expressed here are those of the member posting and are not reviewed, edited, or endorsed by SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/ and you can change your subscription options at http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org
-- Sam P. Kellogg he/him // MCC, NYU <http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/mcc/> // samkellogg.com _______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. Opinions expressed here are those of the member posting and are not reviewed, edited, or endorsed by SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/ and you can change your subscription options at http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org
-- Matthew Kirschenbaum Professor of English and Digital Studies Director, Graduate Certificate in Digital Studies Printer's Devil, BookLab University of Maryland mgk@umd.edu
Hi All, I'd just add in the vein of Brian's and Sam's suggestions that Brian Rotman's work (especially Mathematics as Sign <https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=415>) carves out a position distinct from formalism, intuitionism, and Platonism, which he calls the "semiotic" account of mathematics, and which is explicitly about "scratching notes on paper" and other material practices of doing math. If people know of follow-up work to his, I would be very interested, I have found him very compelling to read. Best, Leif On Wed, Mar 3, 2021 at 10:10 AM Sam Kellogg <samkellogg@gmail.com> wrote:
Hello David,
I highly recommend Juliette Kennedy's work on mathematical drawing on this point—this essay in particular discusses drafting, scratch notes, drawing at the blackboard, etc.
Kennedy, Juliette. “Notes on the Syntax and Semantics Distinction, or Three Moments in the Life of the Mathematical Drawing.” In What Is a Mathematical Concept?, edited by Alf Coles, Elizabeth de Freitas, and Nathalie Sinclair, 55–75. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2017. https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/what-is-a-mathematical-concept/notes-on... <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.cambridge.org_core_books_what-2Dis-2Da-2Dmathematical-2Dconcept_notes-2Don-2Dthe-2Dsyntax-2Dand-2Dsemantics-2Ddistinction-2Dor-2Dthree-2Dmoments-2Din-2Dthe-2Dlife-2Dof-2Dthe-2Dmathematical-2Ddrawing_95FC242F34EBC88DC3D6749A2E4A6F31&d=DwMFaQ&c=slrrB7dE8n7gBJbeO0g-IQ&r=bMQrB1JqPGH3QuzFgKxGwWv8_wlytMz_q_xKdjxXCE0&m=al_Rx7gVpZratUSSzCRMtEW8wkj9M8QRpJi-HdR4YSU&s=ZvIooA9RYnJYitjMQRpEQ0xerf1pt3Dm_bRPhEuDniE&e=> .
Best, Sam
On Wed, Mar 3, 2021 at 8:46 AM David C. Brock <dcb@dcbrock.net> wrote:
Dear All,
I’m wondering if you could point me to some references that treat the material and embodied practices — like writing, reading, publishing, lecturing — of people doing mathematics, symbolic logic, and calculation.
I’m interested particularly in the era *before* the widespread use of electronic computers.
Best wishes,
David +++++++++++++++ David C. Brock dcb@dcbrock.net 40 Russell Street, Greenfield, MA 01301 Mobile: 413-522-3578 Skype: dcbrock Twitter: @dcbrock Pronouns: he, him, his
_______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__sigcis.org&d=DwMFaQ&c=slrrB7dE8n7gBJbeO0g-IQ&r=bMQrB1JqPGH3QuzFgKxGwWv8_wlytMz_q_xKdjxXCE0&m=al_Rx7gVpZratUSSzCRMtEW8wkj9M8QRpJi-HdR4YSU&s=TrQarSKWnjdWAihltWbBR2dQ4Dx_pG5o2QxQYQr-VWo&e=>, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. Opinions expressed here are those of the member posting and are not reviewed, edited, or endorsed by SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/ <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__lists.sigcis.org_pipermail_members-2Dsigcis.org_&d=DwMFaQ&c=slrrB7dE8n7gBJbeO0g-IQ&r=bMQrB1JqPGH3QuzFgKxGwWv8_wlytMz_q_xKdjxXCE0&m=al_Rx7gVpZratUSSzCRMtEW8wkj9M8QRpJi-HdR4YSU&s=C-xqcjQX9X05G1zNkM0V6QoDb5UREz0z0mGMyPvxeVY&e=> and you can change your subscription options at http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__lists.sigcis.org_listinfo.cgi_members-2Dsigcis.org&d=DwMFaQ&c=slrrB7dE8n7gBJbeO0g-IQ&r=bMQrB1JqPGH3QuzFgKxGwWv8_wlytMz_q_xKdjxXCE0&m=al_Rx7gVpZratUSSzCRMtEW8wkj9M8QRpJi-HdR4YSU&s=WzxkiYwlXC-pUkNPhc6FcqF7qkuhgsXLzoM38kiZP84&e=>
-- Sam P. Kellogg he/him // MCC, NYU <http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/mcc/> // samkellogg.com <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__samkellogg.com&d=DwMFaQ&c=slrrB7dE8n7gBJbeO0g-IQ&r=bMQrB1JqPGH3QuzFgKxGwWv8_wlytMz_q_xKdjxXCE0&m=al_Rx7gVpZratUSSzCRMtEW8wkj9M8QRpJi-HdR4YSU&s=btnPYlFtpcF38Bp0oSIXcRL9BA2Ivvcte7jdg18JoU4&e=> _______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. Opinions expressed here are those of the member posting and are not reviewed, edited, or endorsed by SIGCIS. The list archives are at https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__lists.sigcis.org_pipermail_members-2Dsigcis.org_&d=DwICAg&c=slrrB7dE8n7gBJbeO0g-IQ&r=bMQrB1JqPGH3QuzFgKxGwWv8_wlytMz_q_xKdjxXCE0&m=al_Rx7gVpZratUSSzCRMtEW8wkj9M8QRpJi-HdR4YSU&s=C-xqcjQX9X05G1zNkM0V6QoDb5UREz0z0mGMyPvxeVY&e= and you can change your subscription options at https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__lists.sigcis.org_listinfo.cgi_members-2Dsigcis.org&d=DwICAg&c=slrrB7dE8n7gBJbeO0g-IQ&r=bMQrB1JqPGH3QuzFgKxGwWv8_wlytMz_q_xKdjxXCE0&m=al_Rx7gVpZratUSSzCRMtEW8wkj9M8QRpJi-HdR4YSU&s=WzxkiYwlXC-pUkNPhc6FcqF7qkuhgsXLzoM38kiZP84&e=
-- Leif Weatherby Associate Professor Department of German New York University
Hello David and all, Adding my recommendation for: Deborah Harkness, The Jewel House: Elizabethan London and the Scientific Revolution (New Haven: Yale UP, 2007). The whole book is excellent; in terms of your particular interest, David, chapter three addresses mathematics and instrumentation, and chapter five addresses “reading, writing, and doing science” through close reading of prison notebooks. Regards, Joy -- Joy Lisi Rankin, PhD | she/her/hers Research Lead for the Gender, Race, and Power in AI Program AI Now Institute @ NYU Author: A People's History of Computing in the US Recently: "Bodies into Bits" and "Whitewashing Tech" On March 3, 2021 at 10:13:38 AM, Leif Weatherby (leif.weatherby@nyu.edu) wrote: Hi All, I'd just add in the vein of Brian's and Sam's suggestions that Brian Rotman's work (especially Mathematics as Sign) carves out a position distinct from formalism, intuitionism, and Platonism, which he calls the "semiotic" account of mathematics, and which is explicitly about "scratching notes on paper" and other material practices of doing math. If people know of follow-up work to his, I would be very interested, I have found him very compelling to read. Best, Leif On Wed, Mar 3, 2021 at 10:10 AM Sam Kellogg <samkellogg@gmail.com> wrote: Hello David, I highly recommend Juliette Kennedy's work on mathematical drawing on this point—this essay in particular discusses drafting, scratch notes, drawing at the blackboard, etc. Kennedy, Juliette. “Notes on the Syntax and Semantics Distinction, or Three Moments in the Life of the Mathematical Drawing.” In What Is a Mathematical Concept?, edited by Alf Coles, Elizabeth de Freitas, and Nathalie Sinclair, 55–75. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2017. https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/what-is-a-mathematical-concept/notes-on.... Best, Sam On Wed, Mar 3, 2021 at 8:46 AM David C. Brock <dcb@dcbrock.net> wrote: Dear All, I’m wondering if you could point me to some references that treat the material and embodied practices — like writing, reading, publishing, lecturing — of people doing mathematics, symbolic logic, and calculation. I’m interested particularly in the era *before* the widespread use of electronic computers. Best wishes, David +++++++++++++++ David C. Brock dcb@dcbrock.net 40 Russell Street, Greenfield, MA 01301 Mobile: 413-522-3578 Skype: dcbrock Twitter: @dcbrock Pronouns: he, him, his _______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. Opinions expressed here are those of the member posting and are not reviewed, edited, or endorsed by SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/ and you can change your subscription options at http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org -- Sam P. Kellogg he/him // MCC, NYU // samkellogg.com _______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. Opinions expressed here are those of the member posting and are not reviewed, edited, or endorsed by SIGCIS. The list archives are at https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__lists.sigcis.org_pipermail_members-2Dsigcis.org_&d=DwICAg&c=slrrB7dE8n7gBJbeO0g-IQ&r=bMQrB1JqPGH3QuzFgKxGwWv8_wlytMz_q_xKdjxXCE0&m=al_Rx7gVpZratUSSzCRMtEW8wkj9M8QRpJi-HdR4YSU&s=C-xqcjQX9X05G1zNkM0V6QoDb5UREz0z0mGMyPvxeVY&e= and you can change your subscription options at https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__lists.sigcis.org_listinfo.cgi_members-2Dsigcis.org&d=DwICAg&c=slrrB7dE8n7gBJbeO0g-IQ&r=bMQrB1JqPGH3QuzFgKxGwWv8_wlytMz_q_xKdjxXCE0&m=al_Rx7gVpZratUSSzCRMtEW8wkj9M8QRpJi-HdR4YSU&s=WzxkiYwlXC-pUkNPhc6FcqF7qkuhgsXLzoM38kiZP84&e= -- Leif Weatherby Associate Professor Department of German New York University _______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. Opinions expressed here are those of the member posting and are not reviewed, edited, or endorsed by SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/ and you can change your subscription options at http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org
Hi all, Since it hasn't been mentioned yet, the request made me think of Andrew Warwick, *Masters of Theory: Cambridge and the Rise of Mathematical Physics (*University of Chicago Press, 2003). I feel like most of this book thinks about embodied and material mathematical practices. Cheers, Tasha ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tasha Schoenstein tschoenstein@g.harvard.edu Ph.D. Candidate, History of Science, Harvard University S.M. Candidate, Computer Science, Harvard University S.B. Mathematics with Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology On Wed, Mar 3, 2021 at 12:54 PM Dr. Joy Lisi Rankin <drjoy@joyrankin.com> wrote:
Hello David and all,
Adding my recommendation for: Deborah Harkness, *The Jewel House: Elizabethan London and the Scientific Revolution* (New Haven: Yale UP, 2007). The whole book is excellent; in terms of your particular interest, David, chapter three addresses mathematics and instrumentation, and chapter five addresses “reading, writing, and doing science” through close reading of prison notebooks.
Regards, Joy
-- Joy Lisi Rankin, PhD | she/her/hers Research Lead for the Gender, Race, and Power in AI Program AI Now Institute <http://www.ainowinstitute.org/> @ NYU <https://www.nyu.edu/> Author: A People's History of Computing in the US <https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674970977> Recently: "Bodies into Bits <https://logicmag.io/care/bodies-into-bits/>" and "Whitewashing Tech <https://medium.com/@AINowInstitute/whitewashing-tech-why-the-erasures-of-the-past-matter-today-166d0d5e2789> "
On March 3, 2021 at 10:13:38 AM, Leif Weatherby (leif.weatherby@nyu.edu) wrote:
Hi All, I'd just add in the vein of Brian's and Sam's suggestions that Brian Rotman's work (especially Mathematics as Sign <https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=415>) carves out a position distinct from formalism, intuitionism, and Platonism, which he calls the "semiotic" account of mathematics, and which is explicitly about "scratching notes on paper" and other material practices of doing math. If people know of follow-up work to his, I would be very interested, I have found him very compelling to read. Best, Leif
On Wed, Mar 3, 2021 at 10:10 AM Sam Kellogg <samkellogg@gmail.com> wrote:
Hello David,
I highly recommend Juliette Kennedy's work on mathematical drawing on this point—this essay in particular discusses drafting, scratch notes, drawing at the blackboard, etc.
Kennedy, Juliette. “Notes on the Syntax and Semantics Distinction, or Three Moments in the Life of the Mathematical Drawing.” In What Is a Mathematical Concept?, edited by Alf Coles, Elizabeth de Freitas, and Nathalie Sinclair, 55–75. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2017. https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/what-is-a-mathematical-concept/notes-on... <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.cambridge.org_core_books_what-2Dis-2Da-2Dmathematical-2Dconcept_notes-2Don-2Dthe-2Dsyntax-2Dand-2Dsemantics-2Ddistinction-2Dor-2Dthree-2Dmoments-2Din-2Dthe-2Dlife-2Dof-2Dthe-2Dmathematical-2Ddrawing_95FC242F34EBC88DC3D6749A2E4A6F31&d=DwMFaQ&c=slrrB7dE8n7gBJbeO0g-IQ&r=bMQrB1JqPGH3QuzFgKxGwWv8_wlytMz_q_xKdjxXCE0&m=al_Rx7gVpZratUSSzCRMtEW8wkj9M8QRpJi-HdR4YSU&s=ZvIooA9RYnJYitjMQRpEQ0xerf1pt3Dm_bRPhEuDniE&e=> .
Best, Sam
On Wed, Mar 3, 2021 at 8:46 AM David C. Brock <dcb@dcbrock.net> wrote:
Dear All,
I’m wondering if you could point me to some references that treat the material and embodied practices — like writing, reading, publishing, lecturing — of people doing mathematics, symbolic logic, and calculation.
I’m interested particularly in the era *before* the widespread use of electronic computers.
Best wishes,
David +++++++++++++++ David C. Brock dcb@dcbrock.net 40 Russell Street, Greenfield, MA 01301 Mobile: 413-522-3578 Skype: dcbrock Twitter: @dcbrock Pronouns: he, him, his
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-- Sam P. Kellogg he/him // MCC, NYU <http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/mcc/> // samkellogg.com <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__samkellogg.com&d=DwMFaQ&c=slrrB7dE8n7gBJbeO0g-IQ&r=bMQrB1JqPGH3QuzFgKxGwWv8_wlytMz_q_xKdjxXCE0&m=al_Rx7gVpZratUSSzCRMtEW8wkj9M8QRpJi-HdR4YSU&s=btnPYlFtpcF38Bp0oSIXcRL9BA2Ivvcte7jdg18JoU4&e=> _______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. Opinions expressed here are those of the member posting and are not reviewed, edited, or endorsed by SIGCIS. The list archives are at https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__lists.sigcis.org_pipermail_members-2Dsigcis.org_&d=DwICAg&c=slrrB7dE8n7gBJbeO0g-IQ&r=bMQrB1JqPGH3QuzFgKxGwWv8_wlytMz_q_xKdjxXCE0&m=al_Rx7gVpZratUSSzCRMtEW8wkj9M8QRpJi-HdR4YSU&s=C-xqcjQX9X05G1zNkM0V6QoDb5UREz0z0mGMyPvxeVY&e= and you can change your subscription options at https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__lists.sigcis.org_listinfo.cgi_members-2Dsigcis.org&d=DwICAg&c=slrrB7dE8n7gBJbeO0g-IQ&r=bMQrB1JqPGH3QuzFgKxGwWv8_wlytMz_q_xKdjxXCE0&m=al_Rx7gVpZratUSSzCRMtEW8wkj9M8QRpJi-HdR4YSU&s=WzxkiYwlXC-pUkNPhc6FcqF7qkuhgsXLzoM38kiZP84&e=
-- Leif Weatherby Associate Professor Department of German New York University
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For reasons unrelated to the inquiry at the start of this email chain, I listened to a podcast called “Drinks with the Deal” that featured Will Deringer and a discussion of his book, Calculated Values, which “traces how numbers first gained widespread authority” in 17th century Great Britain (from MIT Press website). I have not read any of Will Deringer’s work, but it may be of interest. -Julie Julie Cohn, Ph.D. Non-Resident Scholar, Center for Energy Studies Baker Institute for Public Policy, Rice University, and Research Historian, Center for Public History University of Houston email: cohnconnor@gmail.com cell: 713.516.0849 Author: The Grid: Biography of an American Technology (MIT Press, 2017) https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/grid
On Mar 3, 2021, at 12:06 PM, Schoenstein, Tasha <tschoenstein@g.harvard.edu> wrote:
Hi all,
Since it hasn't been mentioned yet, the request made me think of Andrew Warwick, Masters of Theory: Cambridge and the Rise of Mathematical Physics (University of Chicago Press, 2003). I feel like most of this book thinks about embodied and material mathematical practices.
Cheers, Tasha ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tasha Schoenstein tschoenstein@g.harvard.edu <mailto:tschoenstein@g.harvard.edu> Ph.D. Candidate, History of Science, Harvard University S.M. Candidate, Computer Science, Harvard University S.B. Mathematics with Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
On Wed, Mar 3, 2021 at 12:54 PM Dr. Joy Lisi Rankin <drjoy@joyrankin.com <mailto:drjoy@joyrankin.com>> wrote: Hello David and all,
Adding my recommendation for: Deborah Harkness, The Jewel House: Elizabethan London and the Scientific Revolution (New Haven: Yale UP, 2007). The whole book is excellent; in terms of your particular interest, David, chapter three addresses mathematics and instrumentation, and chapter five addresses “reading, writing, and doing science” through close reading of prison notebooks.
Regards, Joy
-- Joy Lisi Rankin, PhD | she/her/hers Research Lead for the Gender, Race, and Power in AI Program AI Now Institute <http://www.ainowinstitute.org/> @ NYU <https://www.nyu.edu/> Author: A People's History of Computing in the US <https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674970977> Recently: "Bodies into Bits <https://logicmag.io/care/bodies-into-bits/>" and "Whitewashing Tech <https://medium.com/@AINowInstitute/whitewashing-tech-why-the-erasures-of-the-past-matter-today-166d0d5e2789>"
On March 3, 2021 at 10:13:38 AM, Leif Weatherby (leif.weatherby@nyu.edu <mailto:leif.weatherby@nyu.edu>) wrote:
Hi All, I'd just add in the vein of Brian's and Sam's suggestions that Brian Rotman's work (especially Mathematics as Sign <https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=415>) carves out a position distinct from formalism, intuitionism, and Platonism, which he calls the "semiotic" account of mathematics, and which is explicitly about "scratching notes on paper" and other material practices of doing math. If people know of follow-up work to his, I would be very interested, I have found him very compelling to read. Best, Leif
On Wed, Mar 3, 2021 at 10:10 AM Sam Kellogg <samkellogg@gmail.com <mailto:samkellogg@gmail.com>> wrote: Hello David,
I highly recommend Juliette Kennedy's work on mathematical drawing on this point—this essay in particular discusses drafting, scratch notes, drawing at the blackboard, etc.
Kennedy, Juliette. “Notes on the Syntax and Semantics Distinction, or Three Moments in the Life of the Mathematical Drawing.” In What Is a Mathematical Concept?, edited by Alf Coles, Elizabeth de Freitas, and Nathalie Sinclair, 55–75. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2017. https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/what-is-a-mathematical-concept/notes-on... <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.cambridge.org_core_books_what-2Dis-2Da-2Dmathematical-2Dconcept_notes-2Don-2Dthe-2Dsyntax-2Dand-2Dsemantics-2Ddistinction-2Dor-2Dthree-2Dmoments-2Din-2Dthe-2Dlife-2Dof-2Dthe-2Dmathematical-2Ddrawing_95FC242F34EBC88DC3D6749A2E4A6F31&d=DwMFaQ&c=slrrB7dE8n7gBJbeO0g-IQ&r=bMQrB1JqPGH3QuzFgKxGwWv8_wlytMz_q_xKdjxXCE0&m=al_Rx7gVpZratUSSzCRMtEW8wkj9M8QRpJi-HdR4YSU&s=ZvIooA9RYnJYitjMQRpEQ0xerf1pt3Dm_bRPhEuDniE&e=>.
Best, Sam
On Wed, Mar 3, 2021 at 8:46 AM David C. Brock <dcb@dcbrock.net <mailto:dcb@dcbrock.net>> wrote: Dear All,
I’m wondering if you could point me to some references that treat the material and embodied practices — like writing, reading, publishing, lecturing — of people doing mathematics, symbolic logic, and calculation.
I’m interested particularly in the era *before* the widespread use of electronic computers.
Best wishes,
David +++++++++++++++ David C. Brock dcb@dcbrock.net <mailto:dcb@dcbrock.net> 40 Russell Street, Greenfield, MA 01301 Mobile: 413-522-3578 Skype: dcbrock Twitter: @dcbrock Pronouns: he, him, his
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-- Sam P. Kellogg he/him // MCC, NYU <http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/mcc/> // samkellogg.com <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__samkellogg.com&d=DwMFaQ&c=slrrB7dE8n7gBJbeO0g-IQ&r=bMQrB1JqPGH3QuzFgKxGwWv8_wlytMz_q_xKdjxXCE0&m=al_Rx7gVpZratUSSzCRMtEW8wkj9M8QRpJi-HdR4YSU&s=btnPYlFtpcF38Bp0oSIXcRL9BA2Ivvcte7jdg18JoU4&e=>_______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org <http://sigcis.org/>, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. Opinions expressed here are those of the member posting and are not reviewed, edited, or endorsed by SIGCIS. The list archives are at https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__lists.sigcis.org_pipermail_members-2Dsigcis.org_&d=DwICAg&c=slrrB7dE8n7gBJbeO0g-IQ&r=bMQrB1JqPGH3QuzFgKxGwWv8_wlytMz_q_xKdjxXCE0&m=al_Rx7gVpZratUSSzCRMtEW8wkj9M8QRpJi-HdR4YSU&s=C-xqcjQX9X05G1zNkM0V6QoDb5UREz0z0mGMyPvxeVY&e= <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__lists.sigcis.org_pipermail_members-2Dsigcis.org_&d=DwICAg&c=slrrB7dE8n7gBJbeO0g-IQ&r=bMQrB1JqPGH3QuzFgKxGwWv8_wlytMz_q_xKdjxXCE0&m=al_Rx7gVpZratUSSzCRMtEW8wkj9M8QRpJi-HdR4YSU&s=C-xqcjQX9X05G1zNkM0V6QoDb5UREz0z0mGMyPvxeVY&e=> and you can change your subscription options at https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__lists.sigcis.org_listinfo.cgi_members-2Dsigcis.org&d=DwICAg&c=slrrB7dE8n7gBJbeO0g-IQ&r=bMQrB1JqPGH3QuzFgKxGwWv8_wlytMz_q_xKdjxXCE0&m=al_Rx7gVpZratUSSzCRMtEW8wkj9M8QRpJi-HdR4YSU&s=WzxkiYwlXC-pUkNPhc6FcqF7qkuhgsXLzoM38kiZP84&e= <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__lists.sigcis.org_listinfo.cgi_members-2Dsigcis.org&d=DwICAg&c=slrrB7dE8n7gBJbeO0g-IQ&r=bMQrB1JqPGH3QuzFgKxGwWv8_wlytMz_q_xKdjxXCE0&m=al_Rx7gVpZratUSSzCRMtEW8wkj9M8QRpJi-HdR4YSU&s=WzxkiYwlXC-pUkNPhc6FcqF7qkuhgsXLzoM38kiZP84&e=>
-- Leif Weatherby Associate Professor Department of German New York University
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Hi everyone, What a fascinating thread! Adding two references that focus on physical modelling and drawing practices in mathematics: Steingart, Alma 2015. “Inside: Out” Grey Room 59(2): 44-77. PDF: https://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/GREY_a_00169 Samuel, Nina (ed.) 2012. The Islands of Benoît Mandelbrot: Fractals, Chaos, and the Materiality of Thinking. New Haven: Bard Center. https://store.bgc.bard.edu/the-islands-of-benoit-mandelbrot-fractals-chaos-a... Also, Jacques Hadamard’s classic The Psychology of Invention in the Mathematical Field might be relevant? All best, Theodora -- Theodora Vardouli Assistant Professor | Peter Guo-hua Fu School of Architecture | McGill University 815 Sherbrooke Street West, Montréal Québec, Canada H3A 0C2 | 514.398.6709 @McGill<https://www.mcgill.ca/architecture/people-0/faculty/vardouli> | openarchitectures.com<http://openarchitectures.com/> Computer Architectures: Constructing the Common Ground<https://www.crcpress.com/Computer-Architectures-Constructing-the-Common-Ground/Vardouli-Touloumi/p/book/9780815396529> On Mar 5, 2021, at 5:21 PM, Julie Cohn <cohnconnor@comcast.net<mailto:cohnconnor@comcast.net>> wrote: For reasons unrelated to the inquiry at the start of this email chain, I listened to a podcast called “Drinks with the Deal” that featured Will Deringer and a discussion of his book, Calculated Values, which “traces how numbers first gained widespread authority” in 17th century Great Britain (from MIT Press website). I have not read any of Will Deringer’s work, but it may be of interest. -Julie Julie Cohn, Ph.D. Non-Resident Scholar, Center for Energy Studies Baker Institute for Public Policy, Rice University, and Research Historian, Center for Public History University of Houston email: cohnconnor@gmail.com<mailto:cohnconnor@gmail.com> cell: 713.516.0849 Author: The Grid: Biography of an American Technology (MIT Press, 2017) https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/grid On Mar 3, 2021, at 12:06 PM, Schoenstein, Tasha <tschoenstein@g.harvard.edu<mailto:tschoenstein@g.harvard.edu>> wrote: Hi all, Since it hasn't been mentioned yet, the request made me think of Andrew Warwick, Masters of Theory: Cambridge and the Rise of Mathematical Physics (University of Chicago Press, 2003). I feel like most of this book thinks about embodied and material mathematical practices. Cheers, Tasha ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tasha Schoenstein tschoenstein@g.harvard.edu<mailto:tschoenstein@g.harvard.edu> Ph.D. Candidate, History of Science, Harvard University S.M. Candidate, Computer Science, Harvard University S.B. Mathematics with Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology On Wed, Mar 3, 2021 at 12:54 PM Dr. Joy Lisi Rankin <drjoy@joyrankin.com<mailto:drjoy@joyrankin.com>> wrote: Hello David and all, Adding my recommendation for: Deborah Harkness, The Jewel House: Elizabethan London and the Scientific Revolution (New Haven: Yale UP, 2007). The whole book is excellent; in terms of your particular interest, David, chapter three addresses mathematics and instrumentation, and chapter five addresses “reading, writing, and doing science” through close reading of prison notebooks. Regards, Joy -- Joy Lisi Rankin, PhD | she/her/hers Research Lead for the Gender, Race, and Power in AI Program AI Now Institute<http://www.ainowinstitute.org/> @ NYU<https://www.nyu.edu/> Author: A People's History of Computing in the US<https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674970977> Recently: "Bodies into Bits<https://logicmag.io/care/bodies-into-bits/>" and "Whitewashing Tech<https://medium.com/@AINowInstitute/whitewashing-tech-why-the-erasures-of-the-past-matter-today-166d0d5e2789>" On March 3, 2021 at 10:13:38 AM, Leif Weatherby (leif.weatherby@nyu.edu<mailto:leif.weatherby@nyu.edu>) wrote: Hi All, I'd just add in the vein of Brian's and Sam's suggestions that Brian Rotman's work (especially Mathematics as Sign<https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=415>) carves out a position distinct from formalism, intuitionism, and Platonism, which he calls the "semiotic" account of mathematics, and which is explicitly about "scratching notes on paper" and other material practices of doing math. If people know of follow-up work to his, I would be very interested, I have found him very compelling to read. Best, Leif On Wed, Mar 3, 2021 at 10:10 AM Sam Kellogg <samkellogg@gmail.com<mailto:samkellogg@gmail.com>> wrote: Hello David, I highly recommend Juliette Kennedy's work on mathematical drawing on this point—this essay in particular discusses drafting, scratch notes, drawing at the blackboard, etc. Kennedy, Juliette. “Notes on the Syntax and Semantics Distinction, or Three Moments in the Life of the Mathematical Drawing.” In What Is a Mathematical Concept?, edited by Alf Coles, Elizabeth de Freitas, and Nathalie Sinclair, 55–75. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2017. https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/what-is-a-mathematical-concept/notes-on-the-syntax-and-semantics-distinction-or-three-moments-in-the-life-of-the-mathematical-drawing/95FC242F34EBC88DC3D6749A2E4A6F31<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.cambridge.org_core_books_what-2Dis-2Da-2Dmathematical-2Dconcept_notes-2Don-2Dthe-2Dsyntax-2Dand-2Dsemantics-2Ddistinction-2Dor-2Dthree-2Dmoments-2Din-2Dthe-2Dlife-2Dof-2Dthe-2Dmathematical-2Ddrawing_95FC242F34EBC88DC3D6749A2E4A6F31&d=DwMFaQ&c=slrrB7dE8n7gBJbeO0g-IQ&r=bMQrB1JqPGH3QuzFgKxGwWv8_wlytMz_q_xKdjxXCE0&m=al_Rx7gVpZratUSSzCRMtEW8wkj9M8QRpJi-HdR4YSU&s=ZvIooA9RYnJYitjMQRpEQ0xerf1pt3Dm_bRPhEuDniE&e=>. Best, Sam On Wed, Mar 3, 2021 at 8:46 AM David C. Brock <dcb@dcbrock.net<mailto:dcb@dcbrock.net>> wrote: Dear All, I’m wondering if you could point me to some references that treat the material and embodied practices — like writing, reading, publishing, lecturing — of people doing mathematics, symbolic logic, and calculation. I’m interested particularly in the era *before* the widespread use of electronic computers. Best wishes, David +++++++++++++++ David C. Brock dcb@dcbrock.net<mailto:dcb@dcbrock.net> 40 Russell Street, Greenfield, MA 01301 Mobile: 413-522-3578 Skype: dcbrock Twitter: @dcbrock Pronouns: he, him, his _______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__sigcis.org&d=DwMFaQ&c=slrrB7dE8n7gBJbeO0g-IQ&r=bMQrB1JqPGH3QuzFgKxGwWv8_wlytMz_q_xKdjxXCE0&m=al_Rx7gVpZratUSSzCRMtEW8wkj9M8QRpJi-HdR4YSU&s=TrQarSKWnjdWAihltWbBR2dQ4Dx_pG5o2QxQYQr-VWo&e=>, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. Opinions expressed here are those of the member posting and are not reviewed, edited, or endorsed by SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__lists.sigcis.org_pipermail_members-2Dsigcis.org_&d=DwMFaQ&c=slrrB7dE8n7gBJbeO0g-IQ&r=bMQrB1JqPGH3QuzFgKxGwWv8_wlytMz_q_xKdjxXCE0&m=al_Rx7gVpZratUSSzCRMtEW8wkj9M8QRpJi-HdR4YSU&s=C-xqcjQX9X05G1zNkM0V6QoDb5UREz0z0mGMyPvxeVY&e=> and you can change your subscription options at http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__lists.sigcis.org_listinfo.cgi_members-2Dsigcis.org&d=DwMFaQ&c=slrrB7dE8n7gBJbeO0g-IQ&r=bMQrB1JqPGH3QuzFgKxGwWv8_wlytMz_q_xKdjxXCE0&m=al_Rx7gVpZratUSSzCRMtEW8wkj9M8QRpJi-HdR4YSU&s=WzxkiYwlXC-pUkNPhc6FcqF7qkuhgsXLzoM38kiZP84&e=> -- Sam P. Kellogg he/him // MCC, NYU<http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/mcc/> // samkellogg.com<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__samkellogg.com&d=DwMFaQ&c=slrrB7dE8n7gBJbeO0g-IQ&r=bMQrB1JqPGH3QuzFgKxGwWv8_wlytMz_q_xKdjxXCE0&m=al_Rx7gVpZratUSSzCRMtEW8wkj9M8QRpJi-HdR4YSU&s=btnPYlFtpcF38Bp0oSIXcRL9BA2Ivvcte7jdg18JoU4&e=> _______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org<http://sigcis.org/>, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. Opinions expressed here are those of the member posting and are not reviewed, edited, or endorsed by SIGCIS. 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Great topic. Great thread. You might want to check out Netz' The Shaping of Deduction in Greek Mathematics <https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=VwggGX0ORLkC&oi=fnd&pg=PR11&dq=Reviel+Netz&ots=O7iqkYjKcE&sig=9OdPrq82lUfBXLuCfjIceLAMoYs#v=onepage&q=Reviel%20Netz&f=false>. Bruno Latour wrote an astoundingly rave review. <https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281503090_The_Netz-Works_of_Greek_Deductions_-_A_Review_of_Reviel_Netz's_The_Shaping_of_Deductions_in_Greek_Mathematics> Personally, I failed to get through it. In a less historical vein though (one reference each, but each is a little subfield): The ethnomethodologists have done a series of investigations that are about as practical/embodied as you can get, at least in their way: The ethnomethodological foundations of mathematics <https://www.amazon.com/Ethnomethodological-Foundations-Mathematics-Studies-Ethnomethodology/dp/0710203357> The distributed cognition folk tackled this too: Collaboration, distributed cognition, and geometric reasoning <https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11412-011-9113-0> And, my personal favorite, is the lovely work of Jean Lave who followed people around as they grocery shopped (and which spawned a vast literature on maths dubbed 'communities of practice'): Cognition in Practice <https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cognition-in-practice/2AF0745B4B8636436A1DF8AAF374BB9E> david. -- David Ribes Associate Professor Department of Human Centered Design and Engineering (HCDE) University of Washington http://davidribes.com On Fri, Mar 5, 2021 at 2:21 PM Julie Cohn <cohnconnor@comcast.net> wrote:
For reasons unrelated to the inquiry at the start of this email chain, I listened to a podcast called “Drinks with the Deal” that featured Will Deringer and a discussion of his book, *Calculated Values, *which “traces how numbers first gained widespread authority” in 17th century Great Britain (from MIT Press website). I have not read any of Will Deringer’s work, but it may be of interest.
-Julie
Julie Cohn, Ph.D.
Non-Resident Scholar, Center for Energy Studies Baker Institute for Public Policy, Rice University, and Research Historian, Center for Public History University of Houston
email: cohnconnor@gmail.com <cohnconnor@gmail.com> cell: 713.516.0849
Author: *T**he Grid: Biography of an American Technology** (MIT Press, 2017)* https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/grid
On Mar 3, 2021, at 12:06 PM, Schoenstein, Tasha < tschoenstein@g.harvard.edu> wrote:
Hi all,
Since it hasn't been mentioned yet, the request made me think of Andrew Warwick, *Masters of Theory: Cambridge and the Rise of Mathematical Physics (*University of Chicago Press, 2003). I feel like most of this book thinks about embodied and material mathematical practices.
Cheers, Tasha
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tasha Schoenstein tschoenstein@g.harvard.edu Ph.D. Candidate, History of Science, Harvard University S.M. Candidate, Computer Science, Harvard University S.B. Mathematics with Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
On Wed, Mar 3, 2021 at 12:54 PM Dr. Joy Lisi Rankin <drjoy@joyrankin.com> wrote:
Hello David and all,
Adding my recommendation for: Deborah Harkness, *The Jewel House: Elizabethan London and the Scientific Revolution* (New Haven: Yale UP, 2007). The whole book is excellent; in terms of your particular interest, David, chapter three addresses mathematics and instrumentation, and chapter five addresses “reading, writing, and doing science” through close reading of prison notebooks.
Regards, Joy
-- Joy Lisi Rankin, PhD | she/her/hers Research Lead for the Gender, Race, and Power in AI Program AI Now Institute <http://www.ainowinstitute.org/> @ NYU <https://www.nyu.edu/> Author: A People's History of Computing in the US <https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674970977> Recently: "Bodies into Bits <https://logicmag.io/care/bodies-into-bits/>" and "Whitewashing Tech <https://medium.com/@AINowInstitute/whitewashing-tech-why-the-erasures-of-the-past-matter-today-166d0d5e2789> "
On March 3, 2021 at 10:13:38 AM, Leif Weatherby (leif.weatherby@nyu.edu) wrote:
Hi All, I'd just add in the vein of Brian's and Sam's suggestions that Brian Rotman's work (especially Mathematics as Sign <https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=415>) carves out a position distinct from formalism, intuitionism, and Platonism, which he calls the "semiotic" account of mathematics, and which is explicitly about "scratching notes on paper" and other material practices of doing math. If people know of follow-up work to his, I would be very interested, I have found him very compelling to read. Best, Leif
On Wed, Mar 3, 2021 at 10:10 AM Sam Kellogg <samkellogg@gmail.com> wrote:
Hello David,
I highly recommend Juliette Kennedy's work on mathematical drawing on this point—this essay in particular discusses drafting, scratch notes, drawing at the blackboard, etc.
Kennedy, Juliette. “Notes on the Syntax and Semantics Distinction, or Three Moments in the Life of the Mathematical Drawing.” In What Is a Mathematical Concept?, edited by Alf Coles, Elizabeth de Freitas, and Nathalie Sinclair, 55–75. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2017. https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/what-is-a-mathematical-concept/notes-on... <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.cambridge.org_core_books_what-2Dis-2Da-2Dmathematical-2Dconcept_notes-2Don-2Dthe-2Dsyntax-2Dand-2Dsemantics-2Ddistinction-2Dor-2Dthree-2Dmoments-2Din-2Dthe-2Dlife-2Dof-2Dthe-2Dmathematical-2Ddrawing_95FC242F34EBC88DC3D6749A2E4A6F31&d=DwMFaQ&c=slrrB7dE8n7gBJbeO0g-IQ&r=bMQrB1JqPGH3QuzFgKxGwWv8_wlytMz_q_xKdjxXCE0&m=al_Rx7gVpZratUSSzCRMtEW8wkj9M8QRpJi-HdR4YSU&s=ZvIooA9RYnJYitjMQRpEQ0xerf1pt3Dm_bRPhEuDniE&e=> .
Best, Sam
On Wed, Mar 3, 2021 at 8:46 AM David C. Brock <dcb@dcbrock.net> wrote:
Dear All,
I’m wondering if you could point me to some references that treat the material and embodied practices — like writing, reading, publishing, lecturing — of people doing mathematics, symbolic logic, and calculation.
I’m interested particularly in the era *before* the widespread use of electronic computers.
Best wishes,
David +++++++++++++++ David C. Brock dcb@dcbrock.net 40 Russell Street, Greenfield, MA 01301 Mobile: 413-522-3578 Skype: dcbrock Twitter: @dcbrock Pronouns: he, him, his
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-- Leif Weatherby Associate Professor Department of German New York University
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participants (12)
-
Brian Justie -
David C. Brock -
David Ribes -
Dr. Joy Lisi Rankin -
Jeffrey Mathias -
Julie Cohn -
Leif Weatherby -
Matthew Kirschenbaum -
Rachel Plotnick -
Sam Kellogg -
Schoenstein, Tasha -
Theodora Vardouli, Prof.