Ivor Owen Grattan-Guinness (23 June 1941 – 12 December 2014) was a

historian of mathematics The history of mathematics deals with the origin of discoveries in mathematics and the mathematical methods and notation of the past. Before the modern age and the worldwide spread of knowledge, written examples of new mathematical developments ...

and

logic Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the science of deductively valid inferences or of logical truths. It is a formal science investigating how conclusions follow from premise ...

Life

Grattan-Guinness was born in Bakewell, England; his father was a mathematics teacher and educational administrator. He gained his

bachelor degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ye ...

as a Mathematics Scholar at

Wadham College, Oxford Wadham College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street and Parks Road. Wadham College was founded in 1610 by Dorothy W ...

, and an MSc (Econ) in Mathematical Logic and the Philosophy of Science at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...

in 1966. He gained both the doctorate (PhD) in 1969, and higher doctorate (

D.Sc. Doctor of Science ( la, links=no, Scientiae Doctor), usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D., or D.S., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries, "Doctor of Science" is the degree used f ...

) in 1978, in the History of Science at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

. He was

Emeritus Professor ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

of the History of Mathematics and Logic at Middlesex University, and a Visiting Research Associate at the London School of Economics. He was awarded the Kenneth O. May Medal for services to the History of Mathematics by the

International Commission on the History of Mathematics The International Commission on the History of Mathematics was established in 1971 to promote the study of history of mathematics. Kenneth O. May provided its initial impetus. In 1974, its official journal Historia Mathematica began publishing. E ...

(ICHM) on 31 July 2009, at

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

, on the occasion of the 23rd International Congress for the History of Science.Awarding of the K.O. May Prize
from

International Mathematical Union The International Mathematical Union (IMU) is an international non-governmental organization devoted to international cooperation in the field of mathematics across the world. It is a member of the International Science Council (ISC) and supports ...

In 2010, he was elected an Honorary Member of the Bertrand Russell Society. Grattan-Guinness spent much of his career at Middlesex University. He was a fellow at the

Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), located in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States, is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent schola ...

Princeton, New Jersey Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whi ...

, United States, and a member of the

International Academy of the History of Science The International Academy of the History of Science (french: Académie Internationale d'Histoire des Sciences) is a membership organization for historians of science. The academy was founded on 17 August 1928 at the Congress of Historical Science b ...

. From 1974 to 1981, Grattan-Guinness was editor of the history of science journal '' Annals of Science''. In 1979 he founded the journal ''

History and Philosophy of Logic History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

'', and edited it until 1992. He was an associate editor of '' Historia Mathematica'' for twenty years from its inception in 1974, and again from 1996. He also acted as advisory editor to the editions of the writings of C.S. Peirce and

Bertrand Russell Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British mathematician, philosopher, logician, and public intellectual. He had a considerable influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, linguistics, ...

, and to several other journals and book series. He was a member of the Executive Committee of the International Commission on the History of Mathematics from 1977 to 1993. Grattan-Guinness gave over 570 invited lectures to organisations and societies, or to conferences and congresses, in over 20 countries around the world. These lectures include tours undertaken in Australia, New Zealand, Italy, South Africa and Portugal. From 1986 to 1988, Grattan-Guinness was the President of the British Society for the History of Mathematics, and for 1992 the Vice-President. In 1991, he was elected an effective member of the Académie Internationale d'Histoire des Sciences. He was the Associate Editor for mathematicians and statisticians for the

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

(2004). Grattan-Guinness took an interest in the phenomenon of

coincidence A coincidence is a remarkable concurrence of events or circumstances that have no apparent causal connection with one another. The perception of remarkable coincidences may lead to supernatural, occult, or paranormal claims, or it may lead t ...

and has written on it for the

Society for Psychical Research The Society for Psychical Research (SPR) is a nonprofit organisation in the United Kingdom. Its stated purpose is to understand events and abilities commonly described as psychic or paranormal. It describes itself as the "first society to co ...

. He claimed to have a recurrent affinity with one particular number, namely the square of 15 (225), even recounting one occasion when a car was in front of him with the number plate IGG225, i.e. his very initials and that number. He died of heart failure on 12 December 2014, aged 73, survived by his wife Enid Grattan-Guinness.

Work

The work of Grattan-Guinness touched on all historical periods, but he specialised in the development of the calculus and mathematical analysis, and their applications to mechanics and mathematical physics, and in the rise of

set theory Set theory is the branch of mathematical logic that studies sets, which can be informally described as collections of objects. Although objects of any kind can be collected into a set, set theory, as a branch of mathematics, is mostly conce ...

and

mathematical logic Mathematical logic is the study of formal logic within mathematics. Major subareas include model theory, proof theory, set theory, and recursion theory. Research in mathematical logic commonly addresses the mathematical properties of formal ...

. He was especially interested in characterising how past thinkers, far removed from us in time, view their findings differently from the way we see them now (for example,

Euclid Euclid (; grc-gre, Εὐκλείδης; BC) was an ancient Greek mathematician active as a geometer and logician. Considered the "father of geometry", he is chiefly known for the '' Elements'' treatise, which established the foundations of ...

). He has emphasised the importance of ignorance as an epistemological notion in this task. He did extensive research with original sources both published and unpublished, thanks to his reading and spoken knowledge of the main European languages.

Selected publications

Books written

* 1970. ''The Development of the Foundations of Mathematical Analysis from Euler to Riemann''.

MIT Press The MIT Press is a university press affiliated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts (United States). It was established in 1962. History The MIT Press traces its origins back to 1926 when MIT publish ...

. * 1972. ''Joseph Fourier, 1768–1830'' (In collaboration with J.R. Ravetz). MIT Press. * 1977. ''Dear Russell—Dear Jourdain: a Commentary on Russell's Logic, Based on His Correspondence with Philip Jourdain''.

Duckworth Duckworth may refer to: * Duckworth (surname), people with the surname ''Duckworth'' * Duckworth (''DuckTales''), fictional butler from the television series ''DuckTales'' * Duckworth Books, a British publishing house * , a frigate * Duckworth, W ...

. * 1980. ''From the Calculus to Set Theory, 1630–1910: An Introductory History'' (with chapters written by H. J. M. Bos). Duckworth. * 1982. ''Psychical Research: A Guide to Its History, Principles & Practices - in celebration of 100 years of the Society for Psychical Research'', Aquarian Press, . * 1990. ''Convolutions in French Mathematics, 1800–1840'' in 3 Vols. Birkhauser. * 1997. ''The Rainbow of Mathematics: A History of the Mathematical Sciences''. Fontana. (pbk). W. W. Norton and Company (1999). (hbk), (pbk). * 2000. (Reprint
''From the Calculus to Set Theory 1630–1910: An Introductory History''
(with chapters written by H. J. M. Bos).

Princeton University Press Princeton University Press is an independent publisher with close connections to Princeton University. Its mission is to disseminate scholarship within academia and society at large. The press was founded by Whitney Darrow, with the financia ...

. . * 2000. ''The Search for Mathematical Roots, 1870–1940: Logics, Set Theories, and the Foundations of Mathematics from Cantor through Russell to Gödel''. Princeton University Press. . Bibliography. (For research on this book he held a

Leverhulme Fellowship The Leverhulme Trust () is a large national grant-making organisation in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1925 under the will of the 1st Viscount Leverhulme (1851–1925), with the instruction that its resources should be used to suppo ...

from 1995 to 1997.) * 2009 ''Routes of Learning: Highways, Pathways, and Byways in the History of Mathematics''. Johns Hopkins University Press. .

Editions

* W.H. and G.C. Young, ''The theory of sets of points'', 2nd edition (ed. with R.C.H. Tanner; 1972, New York: Chelsea). ntroduction and appendix.*

E.L. Post Emil Leon Post (; February 11, 1897 – April 21, 1954) was an American mathematician and logician. He is best known for his work in the field that eventually became known as computability theory. Life Post was born in Augustów, Suwałki Govern ...

, "The modern paradoxes", ''History and philosophy of logic'', 11 (1990), 85–91. * Philip E. B. Jourdain, ''Selected essays on the history of set theory and logics (1906–1918)'', (1991, Bologna: CLUEB), xlii + 352 pages. ntroduction and indexes.*

George Boole George Boole (; 2 November 1815 – 8 December 1864) was a largely self-taught English mathematician, philosopher, and logician, most of whose short career was spent as the first professor of mathematics at Queen's College, Cork in ...

, ''Selected manuscripts on logic and its philosophy'' (ed. with G. Bornet, 1997, Basel: Birkhäuser), lxvi + 236 pages. art Introduction and editorial material.* Grattan-Guinness' ''The Search for Mathematical Roots 1870–1940'' is a sweeping study of the rise of

during that critical period. The central theme of the book is the rise of

logicism In the philosophy of mathematics, logicism is a programme comprising one or more of the theses that — for some coherent meaning of 'logic' — mathematics is an extension of logic, some or all of mathematics is reducible to logic, or some or all ...

, thanks to the efforts of

Frege Friedrich Ludwig Gottlob Frege (; ; 8 November 1848 – 26 July 1925) was a German philosopher, logician, and mathematician. He was a mathematics professor at the University of Jena, and is understood by many to be the father of analytic ph ...

, and Alfred Whitehead, and its demise due to Gödel and indifference. Whole chapters are devoted to the emergence of algebraic logic in the 19th century UK,

Cantor A cantor or chanter is a person who leads people in singing or sometimes in prayer. In formal Jewish worship, a cantor is a person who sings solo verses or passages to which the choir or congregation responds. In Judaism, a cantor sings and lead ...

and the emergence of

, the emergence of mathematical logic in Germany told in a way that downplays Frege's importance, and to

Peano Giuseppe Peano (; ; 27 August 1858 – 20 April 1932) was an Italian mathematician and glottologist. The author of over 200 books and papers, he was a founder of mathematical logic and set theory, to which he contributed much notation. The sta ...

and his followers. There follow four chapters devoted to the ideas of the young Bertrand Russell, the writing of both ''

The Principles of Mathematics ''The Principles of Mathematics'' (''PoM'') is a 1903 book by Bertrand Russell, in which the author presented his famous Russell's paradox, paradox and argued his thesis that mathematics and logic are identical. The book presents a view of ...

'' and ''

Principia Mathematica The ''Principia Mathematica'' (often abbreviated ''PM'') is a three-volume work on the foundations of mathematics written by mathematician–philosophers Alfred North Whitehead and Bertrand Russell and published in 1910, 1912, and 1913. ...

'', and to the mixed reception the ideas and methods encountered over the period 1910–40. The book touches on the rise of model theory as well as proof theory, and on the emergence of American research on the

foundation of mathematics Foundations of mathematics is the study of the philosophical and logical and/or algorithmic basis of mathematics, or, in a broader sense, the mathematical investigation of what underlies the philosophical theories concerning the nature of mathe ...

, especially in the hands of

E. H. Moore Eliakim Hastings Moore (; January 26, 1862 – December 30, 1932), usually cited as E. H. Moore or E. Hastings Moore, was an American mathematician. Life Moore, the son of a Methodist minister and grandson of US Congressman Eliakim H. Moore, di ...

and his students, of the postulate theorists, and of Quine. While Polish logic is often mentioned, it is not covered systematically. Finally, the book is a contribution to the history of philosophy as well as of mathematics.

Books edited

* 2003. ''Companion Encyclopedia of the History and Philosophy of the Mathematical Sciences'', 2 vols. Johns Hopkins University Press. * 2005
''Landmark Writings in Western Mathematics''

Elsevier Elsevier () is a Dutch academic publishing company specializing in scientific, technical, and medical content. Its products include journals such as '' The Lancet'', ''Cell'', the ScienceDirect collection of electronic journals, '' Trends'', ...

Articles

* 1975. "Mathematical Bibliography for W. H. and G. C. Young." ''Historia Mathematica'', Vol. 2, No. 1, February 1975, pp. 43-58. * 1978. "How Bertrand Russell Discovered His Paradox." ''Historia Mathematica'', Vol. 5, No. 2, May 1978, pp. 127-137. * 1989. "The Earliest Contribution to Location Theory? Spatio-economic Equilibrium with Lamé and Clapeyron, 1829." ''Mathematics and Computers in Simulation'', Vol. 31, No. 3, July 1986, pp. 195-220. * 1990. "The Varieties of Mechanics by 1800." ''Historia Mathematica'', Vol. 17, No. 4, November 1990, pp. 313-338. * 1992. "A Note on The Educational Times and Mathematical Questions" ''Historia Mathematica'', Vol. 19, No. 1, February 1992, pp. 76-78. * 1994. "Contributing to the Educational Times: Letters to W.J.C. Miller." ''Historia Mathematica'', Vol. 21, No. 2, May 1994, pp. 204-205. * 1996. "Mozart 18, Beethoven 32: Hidden Shadows of Integers in Classical Music", pages 29 to 48 in ''History of Mathematics: States of the Art'', edited by Joseph W. Dauben, Menso Folkerts,

Eberhard Knobloch Eberhard Knobloch (born 6 November 1943, in Görlitz) is a German historian of science and mathematics. Career From 1962 to 1967 Knobloch studied classics and mathematics at the University of Berlin and the Technical University of Berlin, a ...

and

Hans Wussing Hans-Ludwig Wußing (October 15, 1927 in Waldheim – April 26, 2011 in Leipzig) was a German historian of mathematics and science. Life Wussing graduated from high school, and from 1947 to 52 studied mathematics and physics at the Universit ...

Academic Press Academic Press (AP) is an academic book publisher founded in 1941. It was acquired by Harcourt, Brace & World in 1969. Reed Elsevier bought Harcourt in 2000, and Academic Press is now an imprint of Elsevier. Academic Press publishes referen ...

* 1996. "Numbers, Magnitudes, Ratios, and Proportions in Euclid's Elements: How Did He Handle Them?" ''Historia Mathematica'', Vol. 23, No. 4, November 1996, pp. 355-375. * 2000. "Christianity and Mathematics: Kinds of Link and the Rare Occurrences after 1750." ''Physis: Rivista Internazionale di Storia della Scienza XXXVII.'' Nuova Serie. Fasc. 2. 2000: 467–500. * 2001. "Manifestations of Mathematics in and around the Christianities: Some Examples and Issues." ''Historia Scientiarum 11-1.'' July 2001: 48–84. * 2002
A Sideways Look at Hilbert's Twenty-Three Problems of 1900

Notices of the American Mathematical Society ''Notices of the American Mathematical Society'' is the membership journal of the American Mathematical Society (AMS), published monthly except for the combined June/July issue. The first volume appeared in 1953. Each issue of the magazine since ...

47: 752–57. * 2002. "Algebras, Projective Geometry, Mathematical Logic, and Constructing the World: Intersections in the Philosophy of Mathematics of A. N. Whitehead." ''Historia Mathematica'', Vol. 29, No. 4, November 2002, pp. 427-462. * 2004. "The Mathematics of the Past: Distinguishing Its History From Our Heritage." ''Historia Mathematica'', Vol. 31, No. 2, May 2004, pp. 163-185. * 2008. "Foundations of Mathematics and Logicism," in

Michel Weber Michel Weber (born 1963) is a Belgian philosopher. He is best known as an interpreter and advocate of the philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead, and has come to prominence as the architect and organizer of an overlapping array of international ...

and Will Desmond (eds.)
Handbook of Whiteheadian Process Thought
Frankfurt / Lancaster, Ontos Verlag: 97-104. Cf.

, �
Ivor Grattan-Guinness, "Algebras, Projective Geometry, Mathematical Logic, and Constructing the World. Intersections in the Philosophy of Mathematics of A.N. Whitehead", Historia Mathematica 29, N° 4, 2002, pp. 427-462
», ''Zentralblatt MATH'', European Mathematical Society, Fachinformationszentrum Karlsruhe & Springer-Verlag, 1046.00003. * 2014. "From Anomaly to Fundament: Louis Poinsot's Theories of the Couple in Mechanics." ''Historia Mathematica'', Vol. 41, No. 1, February 2014, pp. 82-102.

References

External links

Encomium
at

Mathematical Sciences Foundation Mathematical Sciences Foundation (MSF) was formally registered as a non-profit society in 2002 by Dr. Anil Wilson. It is an institute of education and research, located in Delhi, India. Its goal is the promotion of mathematics and its applica ...

* *
Hommage à I. Grattan-Guinness
December 2014. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Grattan-Guinness, Ivor 1941 births 2014 deaths People from Bakewell Alumni of Wadham College, Oxford Alumni of the London School of Economics Alumni of the University of London Academics of Middlesex University Academics of the London School of Economics Institute for Advanced Study visiting scholars Parapsychologists English mathematicians English logicians English historians English philosophers British historians of mathematics Academic journal editors