Amir Alexander () is a historian, author, and academic who studies the interconnections between mathematics and its cultural and historical setting.

Early life and education

Born in

Rehovot, Israel Rehovot (, / ) is a city in the Central District (Israel), Central District of Israel, about south of Tel Aviv. In it had a population of . Etymology Israel Belkind, founder of the Bilu (movement), Bilu movement, proposed the name "Rehovot ...

, he grew up in Jerusalem where his father, Shlomo Alexander, was a professor of physics at UCLA and the

Hebrew University The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. It is the second-ol ...

and his mother, Esther Alexander, was an economist and social activist. He obtained a B.S. from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem in 1988 in mathematics and history, before moving to the United States, where he obtained an M.A. in history of science from

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

in 1990, and a Ph.D. in history of science from Stanford University in 1996.

Career

His first book, ''Geometrical Landscapes: The Voyages of Discovery and the Transformation of Mathematical Practice'', was published in 2002.Reuben Hersh for The American Scientist. May–June 200
Book Review: In Search of Interior Riches
The book describes the 17th century English exploration of the Americas, the early exploration by English mathematicians of

infinitesimals In mathematics, an infinitesimal number is a non-zero quantity that is closer to 0 than any non-zero real number is. The word ''infinitesimal'' comes from a 17th-century Modern Latin coinage ''infinitesimus'', which originally referred to the " ...

, and the relationship between the two, and argued that "If a strong relationship can be established between an historically specific nonmathematical tale and the narrative of a mathematical work that originated within its social sphere, then mathematics can indeed be said to be fundamentally shaped by its social and cultural setting." His second book, ''Duel at Dawn: Heroes, Martyrs, and the Rise of Modern Mathematics'', was published in 2010.Tony Mann for Times Higher Education. May 6, 201
Book of the Week: Duel at Dawn: Heroes, Martyrs, and the Rise of Modern Mathematics
/ref> The book begins describing the death of Evariste Galois in a duel in 1832 and makes the argument that the ideas and culture of the Romantic age influenced the way mathematicians saw themselves and the very mathematics that they created. His third book, ''Infinitesimal: How a Dangerous Mathematical Theory Shaped the Modern World'' was published in 2014. The book returns to the topic of the history of the study of infinitesimals in the 17th century, and locates arguments about the validity of the mathematical concept in the struggles between Roman Catholics and Protestants in the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

and

Counter-Reformation The Counter-Reformation (), also sometimes called the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to, and as an alternative to or from similar insights as, the Protestant Reformations at the time. It w ...

and the accompanying political struggles between authoritarian and more pluralistic approaches to governing. ''Infinitesimal'' was selected as one of the best science books of 2014 by ''

Library Journal ''Library Journal'' is an American trade publication for librarians. It was founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey. It reports news about the library world, emphasizing public libraries, and offers feature articles about aspects of professional prac ...

'' and by ''

Slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

'' magazine. His fourth book, ''Proof!: How the World Became Geometrical'', was published in 2019. His fifth book, "Liberty's Grid" was published in 2024 by the University of Chicago Press. He has contributed pieces to ''The New York Timess Science and Book Reviews sections, ''The Los Angeles Times'' Op-Ed section, and ''Scientific American'', and he has been interviewed on NPR's ''All Things Considered'', and ''Interfaith Voices''.Interfaith Voices
/ref>

Personal life

Alexander lives in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

with his wife and two children. He teaches history at UCLA.Amir Alexander, Adjunct professor
Department of History

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

References

External links

Faculty website
(UCLA) {{Portal bar, Biography, Israel Historians of mathematics University of California, Los Angeles faculty Hebrew University of Jerusalem alumni Stanford University alumni Living people Historians from Jerusalem 1963 births People from Rehovot 21st-century Israeli historians 20th-century Israeli male writers 21st-century Israeli male writers Israeli expatriates in the United States

Early life and education

Career

Personal life

See also

References

External links