Program Description

Summer 2022 Theme: "Stargazers, Sorcerers, and Scoundrels: A Human History of Mathematics"

"There are more things in Heaven and Earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy" (Hamlet, Act I, Scene 5)

Florence, Rome, Pisa, London, and Stonehenge are bucket-list destinations for many travelers. Some enjoy their famous buildings, gorgeous scenery, or fabulous food. Others are fascinated by the rich history associated with those places. Many find delight in their unique cultural charms.

But what if I told you that all that history and culture is intimately tied together with…math and science? As strange as it may seem, the history of these subjects has long been influenced by cultural practices and historical events? By stargazers, sorcerers, and scoundrels!

Join us as we travel Europe to uncover the enjoyable scientific and mathematical history that lies buried beneath its cobblestone streets. Enjoy gelato in Florence while learning how Renaissance artists and architects used mathematics to create masterpieces. Sip espresso in a Rome while learning how the mathematics of arches helped build the greatest empire the world has ever known. Walk the same foggy streets of London just as Isaac Newton did four centuries ago, and marvel at his attempts to describe a “system of the world” that would change how we perceive the world itself.

The human history of mathematics and science is full of men and women who gleefully mixed magic and mystery with formulas and theorems. Sadly, much of this history remains hidden to the average traveler. In this course, history comes alive in a trans-continental journey where you’ll learn how mathematics has shaped the past, and how it continues to shape the present.

In this program, students will:

  • Visit many physical sites associated with significant mathematical and scientific developments between the Renaissance and WWII.

  • Articulate important intellectual characteristics of the Renaissance, the Scientific Revolution, the Enlightenment, and Romanticism - and how these movements shaped the study of mathematics and science more broadly.

  • Learn specific ways in which cultural ideas and historical events influence the creation of new science and mathematics – and how scientific developments have influenced human culture.

  • Understand of a variety of ways in which social and historical contexts shape our ideas about what it means to be a "mathematician" – and who has been excluded from this community.

  • Grow as a "citizen of the world" by experiencing several new cultures firsthand.