Jacqueline Stedall

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Jacqueline Anne "Jackie" Stedall (born August 4, 1950 in Romford , Essex ; † September 27, 2014 ) was a British mathematician . Her research focused on English mathematicians of the 17th century, the history of individual areas of mathematics such as algebra, and the history of the history of mathematics.

Life

Stedall was born in 1950 in Romford, Essex, the eldest of three daughters of John Barton and his wife Irene (nee Stakes). Her father worked as a health inspector, so the family often had to move before they finally settled in Walsall . There Stedall attended Queen Mary's High School for girls . She then studied mathematics at Girton College of Cambridge University . In 1972 she received a Bachelor of Arts there . 1973 followed a Master of Science in statistics at the University of Kent .

After completing her studies, she worked for three years as a statistician in the Department of Mental Health at Bristol University and then worked for four years for the charity War on Want in London , for which she coordinated overseas projects. In 1981 she married the documentary filmmaker Jonathan Stedall. The marriage had two children. Stedall devoted the next seven years to raising children, completed a postgraduate degree (PGCE) in mathematics from Bristol Polytechnic, which she graduated in 1991, and worked as a teacher for eight years. She then began a doctorate at the Open University and received her PhD in history of mathematics with John Fauvel in 2000 . The title of her dissertation was A large discourse concerning algebra: John Wallis's 1685 Treatise of algebra .

From 2000, she did research on the History of Science at Queen's College of Oxford University . Soon after, she became a Lecturer at the University's Oxford Mathematical Institute and a Senior Research Fellow at Queen's College. Due to an incurable cancer , she retired in December 2013.

Academic research

Stedall dealt in particular with English mathematicians of the 17th century such as John Pell , Thomas Harriot , William Brouncker , John Wallis , the history of individual areas of mathematics and the history of the history of mathematics itself. She tried to present the latter in a less Eurocentric or male-dominated way, for example in her books The Oxford Handbook of the History of Mathematics (2009) and History of Mathematics: A Very Short Introduction (2012).

In her book From Cardano's Great Art to Lagrange's Reflections , published in 2011, she refuted the popular belief that there was no progress in algebra between 1545 and 1770.

She was co-editor of the Oxford History of Mathematics and editor of the bulletin of the British Society for the History of Mathematics. Furthermore, she participated in the Thomas Harriot online project, which deals with the publication, categorization and making available of Harriot works.

Fonts

Books:

  • with Eleanor Robson (Editor) Oxford Handbook of the History of Mathematics , Oxford University Press 2009, paperback 2011 edition
    • Therein from Stedall Tracing mathematical networks in seventeenth century England
  • The history of mathematics: a very short introduction , Oxford University Press, 2012
  • From Cardano ’s great art to Lagrange ’s reflections: filling a gap in the history of algebra , European Mathematical Society : Heritage of European Mathematics, 2011
  • with Janet Beery Thomas Harriot's doctrine of triangular numbers: the 'Magisteria magna' , European Mathematical Society: Heritage of European Mathematics, 2008
  • Mathematics emerging: a sourcebook 1540–1900 , Oxford University Press, 2008
  • with Noel Malcolm John Pell (1611–1685) and his correspondence with Sir Charles Cavendish: the mental world of an early modern mathematician , Oxford University Press, 2005
  • The arithmetic of infinitesimals: John Wallis 1656 , Sources and Studies in the History of Mathematics and Physical Sciences, Springer, 2004
  • The greate invention of algebra: Thomas Harriot's treatise on equations , Oxford University Press, 2003, Reprint 2005
  • A discourse concerning algebra: English algebra to 1685 , Oxford University Press, 2002

Essays:

  • Rob'd of Glories: The Posthumous Misfortunes of Thomas Harriot and His Algebra , Archive for History of Exact Sciences , Volume 54, 2000, pp. 455-497
  • Catching Proteus: The Collaborations of Wallis and Brouncker , 3 parts, part 1 (Squaring the circle), Notes and Records of the Royal Society, Volume 54, 2000, pp. 293-316, Part 2 (Number Problems) pp. 317– 331.
  • John Wallis and the French: his quarrels with Fermat , Pascal , Dulaurens , and Descartes , Historia Mathematica , Volume 39, 2012, p. 265
  • The Discovery of Wonders: Reading Between the Lines of John Wallis's Arithmetica infinitorum , Archive for History of Exact Sciences, Volume 56, 2001, pp. 1-28
  • Symbolism, combinations, and visual imagery in the mathematics of Thomas Harriot , Historia Mathematica, Volume 34, 2007, pp. 380-401
  • Of Our Own Nation: John Wallis's Account of Mathematical Learning in Medieval England , Historia Mathematica, Volume 28, 2001, pp. 73-122

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A large discourse concerning algebra: John Wallis's 1685 Treatise of algebra , E-Thesis Online Service . British Library website
  2. ^ Thomas Harriot Online Project
  3. ↑ He is the author of a mathematics textbook, Specimina Mathematica , published in Paris in 1667, and was associated with Frenicle de Bessy and Henri Justel . Otherwise hardly anything is known about him (Stedall From Cardano's Great Art .. , p. 56).
personal data
SURNAME Stedall, Jacqueline
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Stedall, Jackie; Stedall, Jacqueline Anne (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British mathematician
DATE OF BIRTH 4th August 1950
PLACE OF BIRTH Romford , Essex
DATE OF DEATH September 27, 2014