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SUMMARY:Narratives in Greek mathematics? - Markus Asper (New York Universi
 ty)
DTSTART:20090205T163000Z
DTEND:20090205T180000Z
UID:TALK15887@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Lauren Kassell
DESCRIPTION:At first glance\, both ancient Greek and modern mathematics ap
 pear to be narrative-free. Nonetheless\, there has been recent debate abou
 t the relative merits of looking for narratives in modern mathematics (see
  Senechal 2006). Two aspects of this discussion lend themselves to my proj
 ect:\n\n(1) How do narratives about Greek mathematics relate to mathematic
 al practices? One finds such narratives in introductory letters\, anecdote
 s\, and ancient commentaries. Research on modern mathematics suggests that
  such stories do contribute in certain ways to the practices that they are
  about (Traweek 1999\, Corfield forthcoming). They situate the core texts 
 within their social\, dogmatic\, historical\, ideological\, etc.\, context
 s.\n\n(2) Aesthetics of narrative and aesthetics of proof: second\, a clos
 er look at the mathematical texts themselves reveals that they follow prin
 ciples of structure and aesthetics that one also finds in literary narrati
 ves (suspense\, surprise\, sequential organization\, closure\; see Doxiadi
 s 2005). Notions of 'beauty' and 'elegance' come up. Especially rewarding 
 will be a closer look at how Greek mathematical aesthetics relates to lite
 rary aesthetics of the time (compare Netz forthcoming). Perhaps one could 
 understand (mathematical) proofs and solutions of problems as specialized 
 stories.\n\nWorks cited\n\n* Corfield\, M. forthcoming. 'Narrative and the
  Rationality of Mathematical Practice.' In: B. Mazur and A. Doxiadis\, eds
 . _Mathematics and Narrative._ Athens. Forthcoming in 2008. \n* Doxiadis\,
  A. 2005. 'The Mathematical Logic of Narrative.' In: Miranesi\, M. ed. _Ma
 thematics and Culture in Europe. Mathematics in Art\, Technology\, Cinema 
 and Theatre._ Milano\, 167–177. \n* Netz\, R. forthcoming. 'Greek Mathem
 atics and the Hellenistic Aesthetics.' in M.A. Harder\, G. Regtuit\, and E
 . Wakker\, eds. _Science and Nature in Hellenistic Poetry._ Leiden. Forthc
 oming in 2008. \n* Senechal\, M. 2006. 'Mathematics and Narrative at Mykon
 os.' _Mathematical Intelligencer_ 28.2: 24–33. \n* Traweek\, Sh. 1999. '
 Pilgrim's Progress. Male Tales Told During a Life in Physics.' In: Biagiol
 i\, M. ed. _The Science Studies Reader._ New York\, 525–542.
LOCATION:Seminar Room 2\, History and Philosophy of Science\, Department o
 f
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