This contributed volume investigates the active role of the different contexts of mathematics teaching on the evolution of the practices of mathematical concepts, with particular focus on their foundations. The book aims to deconstruct the strong and generally wide-held conviction that research in mathematics constitutes the only driving force for any progress in the development of mathematics as a field. In compelling and convincing contrast, these chapters aim to show the productive function of teaching, showcasing investigations from countries and regions throughout various eras, from Old Babylonia through the 20th Century. In so doing, they provide a critical reflection on the foundations of mathematics, as well as instigate new research questions, and explore the interfaces between teaching and research.

Autorentext

Gert Schubring is a retired member of the Institut für Didaktik der Mathematik, a research institute at Bielefeld University, and at present is visiting professor at the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). His research interests focus on the history of mathematics and the sciences in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and their systemic interrelation with social-cultural systems. One of his specializations is history of mathematics education. He has published several books, among which is Conflicts between Generalization, Rigor and Intuition: Number Concepts Underlying the Development of Analysis in 17th-19th Century France and Germany (New York, 2005).

Inhalt

Introduction    
Gert Schubring
A retired member of the Institut für Didaktik der Mathematik, at Bielefeld University, and at present visiting professor at the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (Brazil).

  How Teaching The Sexagesimal Place Value System In Old Babylonian Scribal Schools Was Instru-Mental In Making It A Powerful Mathematical Tool
Christine Proust             
Christine Proust is a historian of mathematics and ancient sciences, specialist of cuneiform sources. She is a member of the laboratory SPHERE (CNRS and University Paris-Diderot, Paris, France) as Directrice de Recherche. She studied the organization of mathematical curriculum in scribal schools during the Old-Babylonian period (early second millennium BC). She has published two books on Nippur's sources: Tablettes mathématiques de Nippur (2007) and Tablettes mathématiques de la collection Hilprecht (2008). She is one of the editors, altogether with K. Chemla and A. Keller, of the Springer's book series Why the Sciences of the Ancient World Matter.

The Origin Of Proof From Didactic Explanation And Its Later Becoming Independent
Jens Høyrup     
Professor emeritus at Roskilde University, Section for Philosophy and Science Studies, and Honorary Research Fellow, Institute for the History of Natural Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Author of books and articles in the history of mathematics and other fields

The Zilsel-Thesis And The Merton-Thesis: The Institutional Origins Of Modern Science             
Marcello Amadeo          
Graduated in Mathematics at the Universidade de São Paulo (USP) and Master in Mathematics Teaching at the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). Currently professor of history and didactics of mathematics at the Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UNIRIO) and PhD student in Teaching and History of Mathematics and Physics at the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ).

Aspects Of Practical Geometry In The 16th Century: Between Technics And Science
Fumikazu Saito               
Fumikazu Saito is currently a research fellow at CESIMA (Simão Mathias Center of Graduate Studies in History of Science) and professor at the Program in Mathematics Education and History of Science at Pontifical Catholic University, São Paulo, Brazil. He is author of essays, papers and books dedicated on the following topics: natural philosophy; natural magic; scientific and mathematical instruments; science, technology and mathematics in sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. He is also editor of a journal dedicated to the history of science and teaching in Brazil.

Catholicism And Mathematics In The XVII Century       
Jorge Molina     
A professor of Philosophy at the State University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. He is the author of essays and books devoted to the History and Philosophy of Mathematics and Logic. He is also the author of translations from the Latin to the Portuguese and Spanish of modern philosopher's texts accompanied with commentaries.

  The Presence And Absence Of Modern Geometry In 19th-Century French Textbooks 
Jemma Lorenat               
Jemma Lorenat teaches and researches the history of mathematics at Pitzer College in California. Her focus is on geometry in the nineteenth century, with a particular interest in techniques of visualization. She has contributed articles to Historia Mathematica, Science in Context, Archive for the History of Exact Sciences, and Revue d'histoire des mathématiques and is the editor of the Years Ago column for Mathematical Intelligencer.

A Multiple Perspective Approach To History Of Mathematics: Interplay Between Production Of Mathematics And The Historical Conditions Of Its Production    ...