Ивор Грэттан-Гиннесс: Историк математики и логики

British historian of mathematics and logic

Ivor Owen Grattan Guinness (23 June 1941 – 12 December 2014) was a historian of mathematics and logic.

Grattan Guinness was born in Bakewell, England; his father was a mathematics teacher and educational administrator. He gained both the doctorate (PhD) in 1969, and higher doctorate (D. Sc.) in 1978, in the History of Science at the University of London. He was Emeritus Professor of the History of Mathematics and Logic at Middlesex University, and a Visiting Research Associate at the London School of Economics. He was awarded the Kenneth O. May Medal for services to the History of Mathematics by the International Commission on the History of Mathematics (ICHM) on 31 July 2009, at Budapest, on the occasion of the 23rd International Congress for the History of Science. In 2010, he was elected an Honorary Member of the Bertrand Russell Society. Grattan Guinness spent much of his career at Middlesex University. He was a fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, United States, and a member of the International Academy of the History of Science. From 1974 to 1981, Grattan Guinness was editor of the history of science journal Annals of Science. The personal papers of Grattan Guinness are preserved at the Archives of American Mathematics. His offprint collection is held by the American Institute of Mathematics.

The work of Grattan Guinness touched on all historical periods, but he specialised in the development of the calculus and mathematical analysis, and their applications to mechanics and mathematical physics, and in the rise of set theory and mathematical logic. 1972. Joseph Fourier, 1768–1830 (In collaboration with J. R. Ravetz). MIT Press. 1977. Dear Russell—Dear Jourdain: a Commentary on Russell's Logic, Based on His Correspondence with Philip Jourdain. Duckworth. 1980. From the Calculus to Set Theory, 1630–1910: An Introductory History (with chapters written by H. J. M. Bos et al.). Duckworth. 1982. Psychical Research: A Guide to Its History, Principles & Practices in celebration of 100 years of the Society for Psychical Research, Aquarian Press, 1990. Convolutions in French Mathematics, 1800–1840 in 3 Vols. Birkhauser. 1997. The Rainbow of Mathematics: A History of the Mathematical Sciences. Fontana. (pbk). W. W. Norton and Company (1999). (hbk), (pbk). 2000. (Reprint) From the Calculus to Set Theory 1630–1910: An Introductory History (ed. by I. Grattan Guiness with chapters written by H. J. M. Bos, R. Bunn, J. W. Dauben, I. Grattan Guinness, T. W. Hawkins, & K. Møller Pederson). Princeton University Press. 2000. The Search for Mathematical Roots, 1870–1940: Logics, Set Theories, and the Foundations of Mathematics from Cantor through Russell to Gödel. Princeton University Press. Bibliography. (For research on this book he held a Leverhulme Fellowship from 1995 to 1997.) 2009 Routes of Learning: Highways, Pathways, and Byways in the History of Mathematics. Johns Hopkins University Press. .

W. H. and G. C. Young, The theory of sets of points, 2nd edition (ed. with R. C. H. Tanner; 1972, New York: Chelsea). [Introduction and appendix.] E. L. Post, "The modern paradoxes", History and philosophy of logic, 11 (1990), 85–91. Philip E. B. Jourdain, Selected essays on the history of set theory and logics (1906–1918), (1991, Bologna: CLUEB), xlii + 352 pages. [Introduction and indexes.] George Boole, Selected manuscripts on logic and its philosophy (ed. with G. Bornet, 1997, Basel: Birkhäuser), lxvi + 236 pages. [Part Introduction and editorial material.] Grattan Guinness' The Search for Mathematical Roots 1870–1940 is a sweeping study of the rise of mathematical logic during that critical period. The central theme of the book is the rise of logicism, thanks to the efforts of Frege, Bertrand Russell, and Alfred Whitehead, and its demise due to Gödel and indifference. Whole chapters are devoted to the emergence of algebraic logic in the 19th century UK, Cantor and the emergence of set theory, the emergence of mathematical logic in Germany told in a way that downplays Frege's importance, and to Peano and his followers. There follow four chapters devoted to the ideas of the young Bertrand Russell, the writing of both The Principles of Mathematics and Principia Mathematica, and to the mixed reception the ideas and methods encountered over the period 1910–40. The book touches on the rise of model theory as well as proof theory, and on the emergence of American research on the foundation of mathematics, especially in the hands of E. H. Moore and his students, of the postulate theorists, and of Quine. While Polish logic is often mentioned, it is not covered systematically. Finally, the book is a contribution to the history of philosophy as well as of mathematics.

2003. Companion Encyclopedia of the History and Philosophy of the Mathematical Sciences, 2 vols. Johns Hopkins University Press. 2005. Landmark Writings in Western Mathematics 1640 1940. Elsevier.

1975. "Mathematical Bibliography for W. H. and G. C. Young." Historia Mathematica, Vol. 2, No. 1, February 1975, pp. 43 58. 1978. "How Bertrand Russell Discovered His Paradox." Historia Mathematica, Vol. 5, No. 2, May 1978, pp. 127 137. 1989. "The Earliest Contribution to Location Theory? Spatio economic Equilibrium with Lamé and Clapeyron, 1829." Mathematics and Computers in Simulation, Vol. 31, No. 3, July 1986, pp. 195 220. 1990. "The Varieties of Mechanics by 1800." Historia Mathematica, Vol. 17, No. 4, November 1990, pp. 313 338. 1992. "A Note on The Educational Times and Mathematical Questions" Historia Mathematica, Vol. 19, No. 1, February 1992, pp. 76 78. 1994. "Contributing to the Educational Times: Letters to W. J. C. Miller." Historia Mathematica, Vol. 21, No. 2, May 1994, pp. 204 205. 1996. "Mozart 18, Beethoven 32: Hidden Shadows of Integers in Classical Music", pages 29 to 48 in History of Mathematics: States of the Art, edited by Joseph W. Dauben, Menso Folkerts, Eberhard Knobloch and Hans Wussing, Academic Press
1996. "Numbers, Magnitudes, Ratios, and Proportions in Euclid's Elements: How Did He Handle Them?" Historia Mathematica, Vol. 23, No. 4, November 1996, pp. 355 375. 2000. "Christianity and Mathematics: Kinds of Link and the Rare Occurrences after 1750." Physis: Rivista Internazionale di Storia della Scienza XXXVII. Nuova Serie. Fasc. 2. 2000: 467–500. 2001. "Manifestations of Mathematics in and around the Christianities: Some Examples and Issues." Historia Scientiarum 11 1. July 2001: 48–84. 2002. A Sideways Look at Hilbert's Twenty Three Problems of 1900, Notices of the American Mathematical Society 47: 752–57. 2002. "Algebras, Projective Geometry, Mathematical Logic, and Constructing the World: Intersections in the Philosophy of Mathematics of A. N. Whitehead." Historia Mathematica, Vol. 29, No. 4, November 2002, pp. 427 462. 2004. "The Mathematics of the Past: Distinguishing Its History From Our Heritage." Historia Mathematica, Vol. 31, No. 2, May 2004, pp. 163 185. 2008. "Foundations of Mathematics and Logicism," in Michel Weber and Will Desmond (eds. ), Handbook of Whiteheadian Process Thought, Frankfurt / Lancaster, Ontos Verlag: 97 104. Cf. Michel Weber, « Ivor Grattan Guinness, "Algebras, Projective Geometry, Mathematical Logic, and Constructing the World. Intersections in the Philosophy of Mathematics of A. N. Whitehead", Historia Mathematica 29, N° 4, 2002, pp. 427 462 », Zentralblatt MATH, European Mathematical Society, Fachinformationszentrum Karlsruhe & Springer Verlag, 1046.00003. 2014. "From Anomaly to Fundament: Louis Poinsot's Theories of the Couple in Mechanics." Historia Mathematica, Vol. 41, No. 1, February 2014, pp. 82 102.