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SUMMARY:Cambridge mathematics in the north: Peter Guthrie Tait\, Philip Ke
 lland and the local nature of mathematics in Edinburgh\, 1858–65 - Josip
 a Petrunic (University of Toronto)
DTSTART:20111124T163000Z
DTEND:20111124T180000Z
UID:TALK33105@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Karin Ekholm
DESCRIPTION:This article relates to mathematics in Edinburgh leading up to
  and just following the Universities Act (Scotland) in 1858. Philip Kellan
 d\, Professor of Mathematics from 1838\, and Peter Guthrie Tait\, Professo
 r of Natural Philosophy from 1860\, were both Cambridge-trained Senior Wra
 nglers. Yet\, neither actor advocated a wholesale implementation of Cambri
 dge-style Tripos examination in Edinburgh\, despite the fact that the Univ
 ersities Act provided them with the cultural space and impetus to do so. T
 ait and Kelland also collaborated on the development of the highly analyti
 cal mathematics of quaternions\, though neither actor sought to impose thi
 s form of geometrical analysis on his students. Thus\, despite their colle
 ctive potential to serve as conduits through which Cambridge mathematics\,
  or at least an analysis-heavy curriculum\, could have been more explicitl
 y imposed in the north\, neither Kelland nor Tait enforced such a transfor
 mation. Rather\, their contributions to the development of mathematical cu
 rricula in Edinburgh were shaped more by the university's institutional an
 d cultural geography (where natural philosophy was privileged over and abo
 ve symbolical mathematics) than by their own rigid training in Cambridge-s
 tyle mathematics. In sum\, this article explores the Scottish case study o
 f Kelland and Tait to argue that mathematical knowledge is not simply tran
 sferable\, but is heavily dependent upon local conditions.
LOCATION:Seminar Room 2\, Department of History and Philosophy of Science
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