by Adrian Rice
8 January – 2 May 2025
In early 2025, the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences in Cambridge, UK, will hold its very first research programme on the history of mathematics. At the heart of this four-month programme is a theme of “diversity of people, context and content”: looking beyond the “big names” to the broader communities of people who have been engaged in mathematical research; considering mathematical contexts beyond academia, such as government and industry; exploring new methods in the history of mathematics in different cultural settings; and investigating mathematical innovation and impact beyond mathematics itself. Research topics will include 20th-century developments in algebra (e.g., the history of the classification of finite simple groups), topology (e.g. work on 3-manifolds), dynamical systems (e.g., topological dynamics), and the contribution of mathematics to developments in computer and data science, taking into account the circulation of ideas in understudied communities such as those in Eastern Europe and China.
The opening workshop, subtitled “Emerging Themes”, will feature experts from several different areas of the discipline addressing what they consider to be the most significant open question, or lacuna, in their individual areas of the history of mathematics. Speakers will be encouraged to outline the background to their chosen question or lacuna, outline the challenges that lie ahead for current research, suggest some possible strategies and approaches that could be applied, and possibly speculate on potential or anticipated findings. The resulting topics and ideas may then be developed throughout the programme in subsequent seminars, mini-workshops and collaborations.
The programme’s closing workshop, “Looking Ahead”, will invite speakers to reflect upon the themes of the preceding four months, to suggest possible avenues and directions of further research, and in particular to suggest practical ways in which these might be taken forward. There will also be opportunities for the presentation of research undertaken during the programme itself, together with ideas generated over the preceding weeks, and the discussion of new questions and problems. The goal of this closing workshop is to ensure that the projects and collaborations sparked in Cambridge extend beyond the end of the programme.
The overarching aim of the programme is to broaden, deepen and accelerate current research in the history of mathematics, to enable new perspectives and collaborations among participants and beyond, and to stimulate new research, outreach, and impact, especially through unexpected synergies and insights emerging within and across our key themes.
