Colloquium
Jan. 14th, 2018 02:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stoutfellowI have been asked to give a departmental colloquium talk on non-Euclidean geometry next month. I've decided (and it's been approved) to focus on the history of the subject. It will be, basically, one of the set-piece lectures I give in my History of Math class.
I like giving that talk. It lets me talk about the revolution in mathematics that took place in the nineteenth century - how we do math, what we're doing when we do math, stuff like that. It also lets me talk about epistemology and the influence of Immanuel Kant on mathematics. (Mostly negative, albeit indirectly: it slowed the appearance of non-Euclidean geometry by almost a generation, and destroyed the career of a very promising young Hungarian mathematician.)
I'll probably have to put together a few slides. I've got time; the talk is scheduled for Feb. 23.
I like giving that talk. It lets me talk about the revolution in mathematics that took place in the nineteenth century - how we do math, what we're doing when we do math, stuff like that. It also lets me talk about epistemology and the influence of Immanuel Kant on mathematics. (Mostly negative, albeit indirectly: it slowed the appearance of non-Euclidean geometry by almost a generation, and destroyed the career of a very promising young Hungarian mathematician.)
I'll probably have to put together a few slides. I've got time; the talk is scheduled for Feb. 23.
