Kim Leslie Plofker (born November 25, 1964) is an American historian of mathematics, specializing in

Indian mathematics Indian mathematics emerged in the Indian subcontinent from 1200 BCE until the end of the 18th century. In the classical period of Indian mathematics (400 CE to 1200 CE), important contributions were made by scholars like Aryabhata, Brahmagupta ...

Education and career

Born in Chennai, India, Plofker received her bachelor's degree in mathematics from

Haverford College Haverford College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Haverford, Pennsylvania. It was founded as a men's college in 1833 by members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), began accepting non-Quakers in 1849, and became coeducational ...

. She received her Ph.D. in 1995 while studying with adviser

David Pingree David Edwin Pingree (January 2, 1933, New Haven, Connecticut – November 11, 2005, Providence, Rhode Island) was an American historian of mathematics in the ancient world. He was a University Professor and Professor of History of Mathematics ...

(Mathematical Approximation by Transformation of Sine Functions in Medieval Sanskrit Astronomical Texts) from

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

, where she conducted research and later joined as a guest professor. In the late 1990s, she was Technical Director of the American Committee for South Asian Manuscripts of the

American Oriental Society The American Oriental Society was chartered under the laws of Massachusetts on September 7, 1842. It is one of the oldest learned societies in America, and is the oldest devoted to a particular field of scholarship. The Society encourages basic ...

, where she was also concerned with the development of programs for the text comparison. From 2000 to 2004, she was at the

Dibner Institute for the History of Science and Technology The Dibner Institute for the History of Science and Technology (1992–2006) was a research institute established at MIT, and housed in a renovated building (E56) on campus at 38 Memorial Drive, overlooking the Charles River.Charles H. BallMIT to ...

at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

. During 2004 and 2005, she was a visiting professor in Utrecht and at the same time Fellow of the

International Institute for Asian Studies The International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS) is a global research institute and knowledge exchange platform, based in Leiden, the Netherlands. The Institute initiates and promotes interdisciplinary and trans-sectoral programmes that engage ...

in Leiden. She is currently an associate professor at

Union College Union College is a private liberal arts college in Schenectady, New York. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, and second in the state of New York, after Columbia Co ...

in Schenectady.

Contributions

Plofker deals with the history of Indian mathematics, the topic of her 2009 book '' Mathematics in India''. She is particularly interested in the exchange of mathematics and astronomy between India and Islam in the Middle Ages and generally in the exact sciences between Europe and Asia from antiquity to the 20th Century. With Clemency Montelle, she is the coauthor of ''Sanskrit Astronomical Tables'' (Springer, 2019).

Recognition

In 2010 she gave a plenary lecture at the

International Congress of Mathematicians The International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) is the largest conference for the topic of mathematics. It meets once every four years, hosted by the International Mathematical Union (IMU). The Fields Medals, the Nevanlinna Prize (to be rename ...

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

(Indian rules, Yavana rules: foreign identity and the transmission of mathematics). In 2011, she was awarded the

Brouwer Medal The Brouwer Medal is a triennial award presented by the Royal Dutch Mathematical Society and the Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences. The Brouwer Metal gets its name from Dutch mathematician L. E. J. Brouwer and is the Netherlands’ most prestigi ...

of the

Royal Dutch Mathematical Society The Royal Dutch Mathematical Society (Koninklijk Wiskundig Genootschap in Dutch, abbreviated as KWG) was founded in 1778. Its goal is to promote the development of mathematics, both from a theoretical and applied point of view. The society publi ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Plofker, Kim 1964 births Living people American historians of mathematics 20th-century American mathematicians 21st-century American mathematicians Haverford College alumni Brown University alumni Brouwer Medalists Massachusetts Institute of Technology faculty American women mathematicians American Indologists 20th-century women mathematicians 21st-century women mathematicians 20th-century American women 21st-century American women Harvard Extension School alumni