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 university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Haverford, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded as a men's college in 1833 by members of the Religious Society of Fr ...

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

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 ...

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

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 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 is a learned society that encourages basic research in the languages and literatures of the Near East and Asia. It was chartered under the laws of Massachusetts on September 7, 1842. It is one of the oldest learned ...

, 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 at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

. During 2004 and 2005, she was a visiting professor in Utrecht and at the same time Fellow of the International Institute for Asian Studies in Leiden. She is currently an associate professor at

Union College Union College is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Schenectady, New York, United States. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, and second in the s ...

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 IMU Abacus Medal (known before ...

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

(Indian rules, Yavana rules: foreign identity and the transmission of mathematics). In 2011, she was awarded the Brouwer Medal of the Royal Dutch Mathematical Society.

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 Indologists 20th-century American women mathematicians 21st-century American women mathematicians