A Voyage of the Intellects: A Global History of Mathematics in the 17th century

What is the history of mathematics? And who is it written for? This talk introduces the world history of mathematics in the 17th century to a general audience; unlike the conventional approach of viewing the history of mathematics in order to make a comparison between different parts of the world, this talk traces the pathway of mathematical ideas across nations, and observes the 17th century world on a global scale. We will start our journey in Kyoto, and will investigate the intellectual cultures of Europe and China. The presentation uses various techniques of digital humanities.

Tomoko L. Kitagawa is a historian based in Cambridge, England. She is an author of five books in Japanese, including a national bestseller (2012) and the most recent one on the history of mathematics (2015). Her bachelor degree is in mathematics, and she has  worked as a state diplomat before receiving her Ph.D. in history from Princeton University (2009). She taught history at Harvard University (2009-2012), where she was awarded a teaching certificate for three successive years and cited as one of the Class 2012’s Favorite Professors.