Article ID: CBB954232268

Duncan F. Gregory and Robert Leslie Ellis: Second-Generation Reformers of British Mathematics (2018)

unapi

The paper discusses some of the contributions of Duncan Farquharson Gregory and Robert Leslie Ellis to symbolical algebra and their views on the philosophy of mathematics with the aim of revisiting the accepted characterisation of the second generation of reformers of British mathematics found in Crosbie Smith and Norton Wise’s seminal Energy and Empire. It is argued that at least some of the features brought to the fore in their treatment of the work of Gregory and Ellis – namely “geometrical methods” in mathematics and “anti-metaphysical”, “non-hypothetical” and “practical” knowledge – cannot be straightforwardly upheld. On the one hand, Gregory’s generalisation of George Peacock’s symbolical algebra was connected to several natural philosophical considerations underlying the Scottish Newtonians’ “abstractionism” and “geometrical fluxional analysis”. On the other hand, Ellis’s idealist philosophy of mathematics and science insisted that the a priori necessary truths of mathematics could inform the “hypothetical part of scientific induction”. A more nuanced understanding of the place of the second generation of reformers within the analytical revolution in Victorian Britain should thus take into account the eclectic foundational position that arises from the work of Gregory and Ellis.

...More
Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB954232268/

Similar Citations

Book Gray, Jeremy; Parshall, Karen Hunger; (2007)
Episodes in the History of Modern Algebra (1800--1950) (/isis/citation/CBB000774194/)

Article Ferraro, Giovanni; Panza, Marco; (2012)
Lagrange's Theory of Analytical Functions and His Ideal of Purity of Method (/isis/citation/CBB001220403/)

Article Nastasi, Tina; (2008)
La storia del pensiero scientifico e il suo significato nell'opera di Federigo Enriques (/isis/citation/CBB001024085/)

Article Allaire, Patricia R.; Bradley, Robert E.; (2002)
Symbolical Algebra as a Foundation for Calculus: D. F. Gregory's Contribution (/isis/citation/CBB000300191/)

Book Elena Anne Corie Marchisotto; Francisco Rodriguez-Consuegra; James T. Smith; (2021)
The Legacy of Mario Pieri in Foundations and Philosophy of Mathematics (/isis/citation/CBB763111584/)

Article Vladimir Dragović; Irina Goryuchkina; (2020)
Polygons of Petrović and Fine, algebraic ODEs, and contemporary mathematics (/isis/citation/CBB253445490/)

Book Charpentier, Éric; Ghys, Étienne; Lesne, Annick; (2010)
The Scientific Legacy of Poincaré (/isis/citation/CBB001023244/)

Thesis Welsh, Whitney Elizabeth; (2011)
Unthinkable: Mathematics and the Rise of the West (/isis/citation/CBB001560636/)

Book Marco Panza; (2021)
Modes de l’analyse et formes de la géométrie (/isis/citation/CBB887755156/)

Article Heis, Jeremy; (2011)
Ernst Cassirer's Neo-Kantian Philosophy of Geometry (/isis/citation/CBB001035116/)

Article Glas, Eduard; (2000)
Model-based reasoning and mathematical discovery: The Case of Felix Klein (/isis/citation/CBB000110929/)

Article Lambert, Kevin; (2013)
A Natural History of Mathematics: George Peacock and the Making of English Algebra (/isis/citation/CBB001320192/)

Book Gandon, Sébastien; (2012)
Russell's Unknown Logicism: A Study in the History and Philosophy of Mathematics (/isis/citation/CBB001201203/)

Article Barbin, Évelyne; Guitart, René; (2001)
Algèbre des fonctions elliptiques et géométrie des ovales cartésiennes (/isis/citation/CBB000770906/)

Article Gandon, Sébastien; (2006)
La réception des Vorlesungen über neuere Geometrie de Pasch par Peano (/isis/citation/CBB000773900/)

Authors & Contributors
Panza, Marco
Gandon, Sébastien
Krzanowski, W. J.
Goryuchkina, Irina
Halák, Jan
Dragović, Vladimir
Concepts
Mathematics
Algebra
Philosophy of mathematics
Geometry
Logic
Arithmetic
Time Periods
19th century
20th century, early
20th century
Early modern
Modern
Medieval
Places
Italy
Great Britain
Germany
Institutions
University of Chicago
Cambridge University
Comments

Be the first to comment!

{{ comment.created_by.username }} on {{ comment.created_on | date:'medium' }}

Log in or register to comment