Sonja Brentjes (born 1951) is a German

historian of science The history of science covers the development of science from ancient history, ancient times to the present. It encompasses all three major branches of science: natural science, natural, social science, social, and formal science, formal. Pr ...

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

, and historian of

cartography Cartography (; from , 'papyrus, sheet of paper, map'; and , 'write') is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an imagined reality) can ...

known for her work on mapmapking and

mathematics in medieval Islam Mathematics during the Golden Age of Islam, especially during the 9th and 10th centuries, was built upon syntheses of Greek mathematics (Euclid, Archimedes, Apollonius) and Indian mathematics (Aryabhata, Brahmagupta). Important developments o ...

Education and career

Brentjes is the daughter of archaeologists, orientalists, and Islamists and Helga Wilke Brentjes. She earned a diploma in mathematics from

TU Dresden TU Dresden (for , abbreviated as TUD), also as the Dresden University of Technology, is a public research university in Dresden, Germany. It is the largest institute of higher education in the city of Dresden, the largest university in Saxony a ...

in 1973 and completed her doctorate (

Dr. rer. nat. for, la, Doctor rerum naturalium, Doctor of Natural Sciences, paren=left, ), abbreviated Dr. rer. nat., is a doctoral academic degree awarded by universities in some European countries (e.g. Germany, Austria and Czech Republic) to graduates in phy ...

) there in 1977. Her doctoral dissertation, ''Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der linearen Optimierung von den Anfängen zur Konstituierung als selbständige mathematische Theorie - eine Studie zum Problem der Entstehung mathematischer Disziplinen im 20. Jahrhundert'', concerned the history of

linear programming Linear programming (LP), also called linear optimization, is a method to achieve the best outcome (such as maximum profit or lowest cost) in a mathematical model whose requirements and objective are represented by linear function#As a polynomia ...

, and was supervised by

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

. She earned a second diploma in Near Eastern studies in 1982 from

Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (), also referred to as MLU, is a public university, public research university in the cities of Halle, Saxony-Anhalt, Halle and Wittenberg. It is the largest and oldest university in the German State o ...

, a second doctorate ( Dr. sc. nat.) from

Leipzig University Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...

in 1989, and a

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...

from Leipzig University in 1991. She worked as an assistant professor in the Karl Sudhoff Institute for the History of Medicine and Sciences at Leipzig University from 1976 to 1997, with tenure beginning in 1980. After holding a sequence of research positions at the

Max Planck Institute for the History of Science The Max Planck Institute for the History of Science (German: Max-Planck-Institut für Wissenschaftsgeschichte) is a scientific research institute founded in March 1994. It is dedicated to addressing fundamental questions of the history of knowled ...

, Institute for the History of Science at

Goethe University Frankfurt Goethe University Frankfurt () is a public research university located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It was founded in 1914 as a citizens' university, which means it was founded and funded by the wealthy and active liberal citizenry of Frankfurt ...

, and

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

, she became an associate professor at the

Aga Khan University Aga Khan University is a private research university based in Karachi, Pakistan. It is a non-profit institution and an agency of the Aga Khan Development Network. It was founded in 1983 as Pakistan's first private university. Starting in 2000, t ...

Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations in 2004. Since 2007 she has been a researcher at

Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...

, the

University of Seville The University of Seville (''Universidad de Sevilla'') is a university in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. Founded under the name of ''Colegio Santa María de Jesús'' in 1505, in 2022 it has a student body of 57,214,U-Ranking Universidades español ...

, and the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, where she has been affiliated since 2012.

Recognition

Brentjes became a corresponding member of the

International Academy of the History of Science The International Academy of the History of Science () is a membership organization for historians of science. The Academy was founded on 17 August 1928 at the Congress of Historical Science by Aldo Mieli, Abel Rey, George Sarton, Henry E. Sig ...

in 1995, and a full member in 2002. She received one of the two

Kenneth O. May Prize Kenneth O. May Prize and Medal in history of mathematics is an award of the International Commission on the History of Mathematics (ICHM) "for the encouragement and promotion of the history of mathematics internationally". It was established in 19 ...

medals awarded 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. Ev ...

on 26 July 2021 at the International Congress for History and Philosophy of Science in Prague.

Books

Brentjes' books include: *''Ibn Sina (Avicenna): Der fürstliche Meister aus Buchara'' (with Burchard Brentjes, Teubner, 1979) *''Travellers from Europe in the Ottoman and Safavid Empires, 16th–17th Centuries: Seeking, Transforming, Discarding Knowledge'' (Ashgate, 2010) *''Globalization of Knowledge in the Post-Antique Mediterranean, 700–1500'' (edited with Jürgen Renn, Routledge, 2016) *''1001 Distortions: How (Not) to Narrate History of Science, Medicine, and Technology in Non-Western Cultures'' (edited with Taner Edis and Lutz Richter-Bernburg, Ergon Verlag, 2016) *''Teaching and Learning the Sciences in Islamicate Societies (800–1700)'' (Brepols, 2018)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brentjes, Sonja 1951 births Living people 20th-century German historians 20th-century German mathematicians German women historians TU Dresden alumni University of Halle alumni Leipzig University alumni Academic staff of Leipzig University Academic staff of Aga Khan University 21st-century German mathematicians 21st-century German women mathematicians Historians of cartography German historians of mathematics 20th-century German women writers 21st-century German women writers 21st-century German historians