| The lectures will take place in room 312 of the Snellius Building, Niels Bohrweg 1, Leiden. How to get to the Mathematical Institute (Snellius Building) |
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Liesbeth de Wreede (Universiteit Utrecht), "Number is the measure of all": Snellius on the use of numbers in geometry |
| Astract: Willebrord Snellius (1580?-1626), after whom the building of the mathematical institute in Leiden has recently been named, was a major Dutch early modern mathematician. His fame is mainly based on his contributions to mixed (applied) mathematics, yet pure mathematics, especially geometry, played at least an equally important role in his work. In my talk I will discuss Snellius as a pure mathematician, focusing on his opinion on the use of numbers in geometry and his actual practice. This topic caused some heated discussions in the period, to which Snellius contributed with ardour. | |
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Discussion |
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Kim Plofker (Universiteit Utrecht and IIAS Leiden), Heron's formula and the geometry of quadrilaterals in Indian mathematics |
| Abstract: The area rule for triangles known as "Heron's formula" is actually a special case of that for quadrilaterals inscribed in a circle. These "cyclic quadrilaterals" attracted a good deal of attention in medieval Sanskrit mathematics, but their properties were viewed in very different ways by different mathematicians. The development of the study of cyclic quadrilaterals illustrates some unique features of mathematics in India. | |
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Discussion |
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Lunch |
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Karen Parshall (University of Virginia), The British Development of the Theory of Invariants (1841-1895) |
| Abstract: The two main British exponents of the theory of invariants, Arthur Cayley and James Joseph Sylvester, first encountered the idea of an "invariant" in an 1841 paper by George Boole. In the 1850s, Cayley, Sylvester, and the Irish mathematician, George Salmon, formulated the basic concepts, developed the key techniques, and set the research agenda for the field. As Cayley and Sylvester continued to extend the theory off and on through the 1880s, first Salmon in 1859 and later Edwin Bailey Elliott in 1895 codified it in high-level textbooks. This talk will sketch the development of nineteenth-century invariant theory in British hands against a backdrop of personal, nationalistic, and internationalistic mathematical goals. | |
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Discussion |
| Jan Hogendijk's inaugural lecture will take place in the Academiegebouw, Rapenburg 73, Leiden. | |
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Jan Hogendijk's inaugural lecture, Geschenken uit het Oosten |
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Reception |
