Gray Jeremy
Department of Mathematics, Statistics, and Computing, Open University, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire MK7 6AA, United Kingdom.
Isis. 2011 Sep;102(3):511-7. doi: 10.1086/661625.
For some years now, the history of modern mathematics and the history of modern science have developed independently. A step toward a reunification that would benefit both disciplines could come about through a revived appreciation of mathematical practice. Detailed studies of what mathematicians actually do, whether local or broadly based, have often led in recent work to examinations of the social, cultural, and national contexts, and more can be done. Another recent approach toward a historical understanding of the abstractness of modern mathematics has been to see it as a species of modernism, and this thesis will be tested by the raft of works on the history of modern applied mathematics currently under way.
多年来,现代数学史和现代科学史一直独立发展。通过重新重视数学实践,有可能朝着有利于这两个学科的统一迈出一步。对数学家实际所做工作的详细研究,无论是局部的还是广泛的,在最近的研究中常常引发对社会、文化和国家背景的审视,而且还有更多工作可做。最近,另一种理解现代数学抽象性的历史研究方法是将其视为现代主义的一种形式,而这一论点将通过目前正在进行的大量关于现代应用数学史的研究来检验。