Clemency Montelle (born 8 July 1977) is a New Zealand historian of mathematics known for her research on

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, ...

and

Indian astronomy Astronomy has a long history in the Indian subcontinent, stretching from History of India, pre-historic to History of India (1947–present), modern times. Some of the earliest roots of Indian astronomy can be dated to the period of Indus Valle ...

. She is a professor of mathematics at the

University of Canterbury The University of Canterbury (UC; ; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was founded in 1873 as Canterbur ...

, and a fellow of the New Zealand India Research Institute of the

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington (), also known by its shorter names "VUW" or "Vic", is a public university, public research university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of New Zealand Parliament, Parliament, and w ...

Education

Montelle is originally from Christchurch. She earned first class honours in mathematics and classical studies at the University of Canterbury in 1999, and completed a master's degree there in 2000. It was not until the fourth year of her studies that, finding a copy of Euclid in the original Greek, she realized that she could reconcile her two interests by working in the history of mathematics. She became a

Fulbright Scholar The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the peopl ...

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

, where she learned

Cuneiform Cuneiform is a Logogram, logo-Syllabary, syllabic writing system that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Near East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. Cuneiform script ...

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

, and

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

. She completed a Ph.D. in the history of mathematics there in 2005; at Brown, her faculty mentors included

David Pingree David Edwin Pingree (January 2, 1933 – November 11, 2005) was an American historian of mathematics in the ancient world. He was a University Professor and Professor of History of Mathematics and Classics at Brown University. Life Pingree gra ...

Alice Slotsky Alice Louise Slotsky (née Weisfeld) was an American historian of mathematics and Assyriologist known for her studies of Babylonian mathematics and Babylonian accounting and for her popular courses at Brown University on the Akkadian language. E ...

, and

Kim Plofker Kim Leslie Plofker (born November 25, 1964) is an American historian of mathematics, specializing in Indian mathematics. Education and career Born in Chennai, India, Plofker received her bachelor's degree in mathematics from Haverford College. She ...

Service

Montelle was vice president of the Commission for the History of Ancient and Medieval Astronomy for the 2017–2021 term.

Books

Montelle is the author of the book ''Chasing Shadows: Mathematics, Astronomy, and the Early Reckoning of Eclipse theory'' (Johns Hopkins Press, 2011). With

, she is the coauthor of ''Sanskrit Astronomical Tables'' (Springer, 2019).

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Montelle, Clemency 1977 births Living people New Zealand women mathematicians Historians of mathematics University of Canterbury alumni Academic staff of the University of Canterbury Indian mathematics Historians of India Academic staff of Victoria University of Wellington Brown University alumni Educators from Christchurch Indologists