Institutional background

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 555.

Until the middle of the 17th century, mathematicians worked alone or in small groups, publishing their work in books or communicating with other researchers by letter. At a time when people were often slow to publish, “invisible colleges,” networks of scientists who corresponded privately, played an important role in coordinating and stimulating mathematical research. Marin Mersenne in Paris acted as a clearinghouse for new results, informing his many correspondents—including Fermat, Descartes, Blaise Pascal, Gilles Personne de Roberval, and Galileo—of challenge problems and novel solutions. Later in the century John Collins, librarian of London's Royal Society, performed a similar function among British mathematicians.

In 1660 the Royal Society of London was founded, to be followed in 1666 by the Academy of Sciences in France, in 1700 by the Berlin Academy, and in 1724 by the St. Petersburg Academy. The official publications sponsored by the academies, as well as independent journals such as the ActaEruditorum (founded in 1682), made possible the open and prompt communication of research findings. Although universities in the 17th century provided some support for mathematics, they became increasingly ineffective as state-supported academies assumed direction of advanced research.

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*Aclearinghouse –зд. информационный центр (организация по сбору, классификации и распространению информации, услуг)

II. Read the passage again and answer the questions:

1. What did the 17^th century witness?

2. What resulted in a major expansion of the subject areas of mathematics?

3. Had classical Greek geometry been replaced by anything by the end of the 17th century?

4. What distinguished the new mathematics from traditional geometry?

5. How did mathematicians work until the middle of the 17th century?

6. What played an important role in coordinating and stimulating mathematical research?

7. How did Marin Mersenne in Paris act?

8. What role did Academies play in mathematic esearch at that time?

III. Simplify the sentences in the second and third paragraphs of the passage to be ready to speak about institutional background.