Bernard Bolzano

Steve Russ

Bernard Bolzano (1781-1848, Prague) was a remarkable thinker and reformer far ahead of his time in many areas, including philosophy, theology, ethics, politics, logic, and mathematics.Aimed at historians and philosophers of both mathematics and logic, and research students in those fields, this volume contains English translations, in most cases for the first time, of many of Bolzano's most significant mathematical writings.These are the primary sources for many of his celebrated insights and anticipations, including: clear topological definitions of various geometric extensions; an effective statement and use of the Cauchy convergence criterion before it appears in Cauchy's work; proofs of the binomial theorem and the intermediate value theorem that are more general and rigorous than previous ones; an impressive theory of measurable numbers (a version of real numbers), a theory of functions including theconstruction of a continuous, non-differentiable function (around 1830); and his tantalising conceptual struggles over the possible relationships between infinite collections.Bolzano identified an objective and semantic connection between truths, his so-called 'ground-consequence' relation that imposed a structure on mathematical theories and reflected careful conceptual analysis. This was part of his highly original philosophy of mathematics that appears to be inseparable from his extraordinarily fruitful practical development of mathematics in ways that remain far from being properly understood, and may still be of relevance today.

The Mathematical Works of Bernard Bolzano

Bernard Bolzano (1781-1848, Prague) was a remarkable thinker and reformer far ahead of his time in many areas, including philosophy, theology, ethics, politics, logic, and mathematics. Aimed at historians and philosophers of both mathematics and logic, and research students in those fields, this volume contains English translations, in most cases for the first time, of many of Bolzano's most significant mathematical writings. These are the primary sources for many of his celebrated insights and anticipations, including: clear topological definitions of various geometric extensions; an effective statement and use of the Cauchy convergence criterion before it appears in Cauchy's work; proofs of the binomial theorem and the intermediate value theorem that are more general and rigorous than previous ones; an impressive theory of measurable numbers (a version of real numbers), a theory of functions including the construction of a continuous, non-differentiable function (around 1830); and his tantalising conceptual struggles over the possible relationships between infinite collections. Bolzano identified an objective and semantic connection between truths, his so-called 'ground-consequence' relation that imposed a structure on mathematical theories and reflected careful conceptual analysis. This was part of his highly original philosophy of mathematics that appears to be inseparable from his extraordinarily fruitful practical development of mathematics in ways that remain far from being properly understood, and may still be of relevance today.

Jörg Liesen

Hans-Joachim Petsche

Albert C. Lewis

On the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Hermann Graßmann (1809-1877), an interdisciplinary conference was held in Potsdam, Germany, and in Graßmann's hometown Szczecin, Poland. The idea of the conference was to present a multi-faceted picture of Graßmann, and to uncover the complexity of the factors that were responsible for his creativity. The conference demonstrated not only the very influential reception of his work at the turn of the 20th century, but also the unexpected modernity of his ideas, and their continuing development in the 21st century. This book contains 37 papers presented at the conference. They investigate the significance of Graßmann's work for philosophical as well as for scientific and methodological questions, for comparative philology in general and for Indology in particular, for psychology, physiology, religious studies, musicology, didactics, and, last but not least, mathematics. In addition, the book contains numerous illustrations and English translations of original sources, which are published here for the first time. These include life histories of Graßmann (written by his son Justus) and of his brother Robert (written by Robert himself), as well as the paper "On the concept and extent of pure theory of number'' by Justus Graßmann (the father).

Steve Russ

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