Oxford Figures

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

This is the story of the intellectual and social life of a community, and of its interactions with the wider world. For eight centuries mathematics has been researched and studied at Oxford, and the subject and its teaching have undergone profound changes during that time. This highly readable and beautifully illustrated book reveals the richness and influence of Oxford's mathematical tradition and the fascinating characters that helped to shape it. The story begins with the founding of the University of Oxford and the establishing of the medieval curriculum, in which mathematics had an important role. The Black Death, the advent of printing, the Civil War, and the Newtonian revolution all had a great influence on the development of mathematics at Oxford. So too did many well-known figures: Roger Bacon, Henry Savile, Robert Hooke, Christopher Wren, Edmond Halley, Florence Nightingale, Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll), and G. H. Hardy, to name but a few. Later chapters bring us to the 20th century, with some entertaining reminiscences by Sir Michael Atiyah of the thirty years he spent as an Oxford mathematician.In this second edition the story is brought right up to the opening of the new Mathematical Institute in 2013 with a foreword from Marcus du Sautoy and recent developments from Peter M. Neumann.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Introduction (p. 1)
• Eight centuries of mathematical traditions (p. 3)
• Part I Early Days (p. 35)
• 1 Medieval Oxford (p. 37)
• 2 Renaissance Oxford (p. 51)
• 3 Mathematical instruments (p. 75)
• Part II The 17th Century (p. 91)
• 4 The first professors (p. 93)
• 5 John Wallis (p. 115)
• 6 Edmond Halley (p. 141)
• Part III The 18th Century (p. 165)
• 7 Oxford's Newtonian school (p. 167)
• 8 Georgian Oxford (p. 181)
• 9 Thomas Hornsby and the Radcliffe Observatory (p. 203)
• Part IV The Victorian Era (p. 221)
• 10 The 19th century (p. 223)
• 11 Henry Smith (p. 239)
• 12 Charles Dodgson (p. 257)
• 13 James Joseph Sylvester (p. 281)
• Part V The Modern Era (p. 303)
• 14 The 20th century (p. 305)
• 15 Some personal reminiscences (p. 325)
• Epilogue (p. 335)
• Recent developments (p. 337)
• Appendix: Oxford's mathematical Chairs (p. 359)
• Notes on contributors (p. 361)
• Further reading, notes, and references (p. 363)
• Picture sources and acknowledgements (p. 391)
• Index of names (p. 401)