Professor Christopher Hollings: Tracing Mathematical Lives in the Archives

Mathematics is often thought of as a static subject without any history. But like any other field, mathematics and its teaching have evolved over time, and this can be traced through a wide range of archival sources–not least local archives. In this talk, Christopher Hollings will explore some of the discoveries he has made in archives—including in Westminster—which shed light on the personal and social dimensions of mathematical education, revealing the human stories behind this supposedly abstract subject.

Christopher Hollings teaches mathematics and the history of mathematics at the University of Oxford, and researches a range of aspects of the history of mathematics during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.