Conflicts Between Generalization, Rigor, and Intuition: Number Concepts Underlying the Development of Analysis in 17th-19th Century France and Germany ... History of Mathematics and Physical Sciences) - Softcover

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Gert Schubring is a retired member of the Institut für Didaktik der Mathematik, a research institute at Bielefeld University, and was for various periods a visiting professor for history of mathematics at the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). His research interests focus on the history of mathematics and the sciences in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and their systemic interrelation with social-cultural systems. One of his specialisations is history of mathematics education. He has published a great number of papers in journals and many books, among which is Conflicts between Generalization, Rigor and Intuition: Number Concepts Underlying the Development of Analysis in 17th-19th century France and Germany (New York, 2005). He was Chief-Editor of the International Journal for the History of Mathematics Education from 2005 to 2015, and is co-editor of the series International Studies in the History of Mathematics and its Teaching, published by Springer. He organised and co-organised various international workshops and conferences on history of mathematics education and history of mathematics.. He participated in numerous Juries for doctoral dissertations in Germany, France, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Spain, Australia and Brazil. In 2019, he received the Hans Freudenthal Award by the International Commission on Mathematical Instruction (ICMI), for having established the research programme on the history of mathematics education.

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Conflicts Between Generalization, Rigor, and Intuition undertakes a historical analysis of the development of two mathematical concepts -negative numbers and infinitely small quantities, mainly in France and Germany, but also in Britain, and the different paths taken there.

This book not only discusses the history of the two concepts, but it also introduces a wealth of new knowledge and insights regarding their interrelation as necessary foundations for the emergence of the 19th century concept of analysis. The historical investigation unravels several processes underlying and motivating conceptual change: generalization (in particular, algebraization as an agent for generalizing) and a continued effort of intuitive accessibility which often conflicted with likewise desired rigor. The study focuses on the 18th and the 19th centuries, with a detailed analysis of Lazare Carnot's and A. L. Cauchy's foundational ideas.

By researching the development of the concept of negative and infinitely small numbers, the book provides a productive unity to a large number of historical sources. This approach permits a nuanced analysis of the meaning of mathematical ideas as conceived of by 18^th and 19th century scientists, while illustrating the authors' actions within the context of their respective cultural and scientific communities. The result is a highly readable study of conceptual history and a new model for the cultural history of mathematics.