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X-WR-CALDESC:Events for BSHM
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260417T143000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260417T181500
DTSTAMP:20260423T154614
CREATED:20260118T153731Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260118T200804Z
UID:1001-1776436200-1776449700@bshm.ac.uk
SUMMARY:LMS Spitalfields Meeting & Hirst Lecture
DESCRIPTION:The LMS is hosting the 2026 Spitalfields History of Mathematics Meeting and Hirst Lecture\, comprising two lectures by Professor June Barrow-Green (The Open University) and Dr Brigitte Stenhouse (The Open University). This meeting will take place both in person and online. \nThe meeting features the Hirst Lecture 2026\, given by the winner of the Joint LMS-BSHM Hirst Prize and Lectureship 2025\, Professor June Barrow-Green. \nThe Hirst Prize and Lectureship for the History of Mathematics is awarded for contributions to the study of the history of mathematics. The prize is awarded in recognition of original and innovative work in the history of mathematics\, which may be in any medium. \nThis prize is awarded jointly by the LMS and the British Society for the History of Mathematics. \nFor more information\, and to register\, please visit the LMS page. 
URL:http://bshm.ac.uk/event/lms-spitalfields-meeting-hirst-lecture/
LOCATION:De Morgan House\, 57-58 Russell Sq\, London\, WC1B 4HS
CATEGORIES:Non BSHM
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260401T140000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260401T190000
DTSTAMP:20260423T154614
CREATED:20260312T200812Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260312T200812Z
UID:1336-1775052000-1775070000@bshm.ac.uk
SUMMARY:Primes and Resonance: Sophie Germain’s 250th Birthday
DESCRIPTION:An event organised by the University of Oxford and the ICMS\, hosted at The Royal Institution\, London. \nSophie Germain is remembered for her major contributions to mathematics\, ranging from advances in number theory (related to Fermat’s Last Theorem) to foundational results on vibrating plates. She was the first woman to win a major competitive research prize in mathematics. \nThis event will celebrate her 250th birthday with four general-audience talks\, a live demonstration\, and a speaker panel bringing her life and work into focus. No specialist background is assumed. \nExpect history\, Fermat’s Last Theorem\, sand figures on vibrating plates\, and open questions on primes\, moving from deep theory to patterns you can see. \nFor more information and to register\, see: www.sophie-germain.com/250
URL:http://bshm.ac.uk/event/primes-and-resonance-sophie-germains-250th-birthday/
CATEGORIES:Non BSHM
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260312T160000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260312T170000
DTSTAMP:20260423T154614
CREATED:20260308T090321Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260308T090328Z
UID:1332-1773331200-1773334800@bshm.ac.uk
SUMMARY:Kirk Public Lecture: The Ocean of Numbers\, How India Shaped the Way We Calculate
DESCRIPTION:The upcoming Kirk Distinguished Visiting Fellow Public Lecture by Professor Clemency Montelle\, titled “The Ocean of Numbers: How India shaped the way we calculate”\, will be on Thursday 12 March 2026 at 4 p.m. in Seminar Room 1 at the Isaac Newton Institute\, Cambridge. \nThe talk will also be streamed online via the INI website: [MHM] Kirk Public Lecture: The Ocean of Numbers: How India Shaped the Way We Calculate – Isaac Newton Institute (click watch live in the top right-hand corner). \n 
URL:http://bshm.ac.uk/event/kirk-public-lecture-the-ocean-of-numbers-how-india-shaped-the-way-we-calculate/
LOCATION:Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences\, 20 Clarkson Road\, Cambridge\, CB3 0EH\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Non BSHM
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260310T170000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260310T183000
DTSTAMP:20260423T154614
CREATED:20260216T160446Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260216T160446Z
UID:1249-1773162000-1773167400@bshm.ac.uk
SUMMARY:Shakespeare By Numbers
DESCRIPTION:Shakespeare scholar Darren Freebury-Jones and mathematician Rob Eastaway will explore the fascinating connections between Shakespeare\, numbers and Elizabethan history. \nIn this illustrated joint talk followed by moderated discussion and questions\, Shakespeare scholar Darren Freebury-Jones and maths author Rob Eastaway explore Shakespeare from a fresh angle – through numbers. They reveal new insights into the social\, cultural\, and theatrical context of Elizabethan England\, and show how numbers can deepen our understanding of the structure\, form\, and language of Shakespeare’s plays. \nRSVP to rob[at]mathsinspiration.com if you wish to attend\, as numbers are limited. \nAbout the presenters: \nDr. Darren Freebury-Jones is a scholar and author known for his work on Shakespeare and his contemporaries\, including the book Shakespeare’s Borrowed Feathers. \nRob Eastaway is a maths author and presenter\, whose most recent book Much Ado About Numbers explores how Elizabethan mathematics influenced Shakespeare’s work.
URL:http://bshm.ac.uk/event/shakespeare-by-numbers/
LOCATION:The London Interdisciplinary School\, 20-30 Whitechapel Road\, E1 1EW
CATEGORIES:Non BSHM
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260307T103000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260307T173000
DTSTAMP:20260423T154614
CREATED:20260118T144709Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260227T165206Z
UID:977-1772879400-1772904600@bshm.ac.uk
SUMMARY:Research In Progress
DESCRIPTION:The Queen’s College\, Oxford (full details below). \nOur annual meeting which provides an opportunity for research students in any area of the history of mathematics to present their work to a friendly and supportive audience. Alongside the student speakers there will be a selection of posters on display throughout the day. The meeting will be held in person only\, and will be held in English. \nBookings for this event have now closed. If you would like to join a waitlist\, please contact the meetings co-ordinator at brigitte.stenhouse@bshm.ac.uk. \nProgramme \n10.30 Arrival \n10.50 BSHM Welcome \n11.00 Rui Yuan (Sphere/Université Paris Cité)\, From Philology to Mathematics: What are the relationships between the marks and annotations borne by the earliest extant manuscript of the Chinese mathematical treatise Sea Mirror of the Circle Measurements and the late 18th-century editions of the work? \n11.30 Emma Baxter (University of Oxford)\, Anxiety and Crisis in Late Imperial Russian and Early Soviet Mathematics\, 1900-35 \n12.00 Petra Stanković (University of Oxford)\, Between Science and Politics: The 1970 Nice International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) \n12.30 Elinor Flavell (Open University)\, A Whistle-Stop Tour of the First 159 Days of my PhD. \n12.45 Stephen Dorman (Open University)\, Undergraduate Essay Prizewinner\, Mollie Orshansky and the Moral Arithmetic of Poverty \n13.00 Lunch (provided) \n14.00 Megan Briers (MPIWG/TU Berlin)\, Gender\, Observers’ Bodies and Nineteenth-Century Measurements of the Distance to the Sun \n14.30 Thomas Glasman (University of Oxford)\, Private Correspondence and Public Writing on the Paradoxes of Set Theory \n15.00 Ties van Gemert (Tilburg University)\, Gerrit Mannoury (1867-1956) on the Politics of Mathematical Logic \n15.30 Shaivi Darsi (Queen Mary University of London)\, Undergraduate Essay Runner Up\, From Dice to Derivatives: How 17th-century Gambling Shaped Modern Financial Mathematics \n15.45 Refreshment Break \n16.15 Tinne Hoff Kjeldsen (University of Copenhagen)\, John Fauvel Invited Lecture\, A Problem-Oriented Multiple Perspective Approach to History of Mathematics Illustrated by Examples from the 20th century: How can it fill “lacunas”? \n17.15 Close of Meeting \nPosters \nPablo Gómez Samper (Bergische Universität Wuppertal)\, Paolo Bonasoni’s Algebra Geometrica (c.1580s\, MS. 314 Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna). \nMaría de Lourdes Ortega Méndez (Johannes Gutenburg-University Mainz)\, Abstraction and Material Aids in the History of Mathematics: Mechanical Harmonic Analyzers (1890-1925). \nLukas Schievelbusch (Bergische Universität Wuppertal)\, The Expansion and Differentiation of the Mathematical Community in the Cold War US (1945-1991)\, measured by earned PhDs. \nResearch in Progress Book of Abstracts 2026. \nIf you would like to take advantage of the BSHM Member pricing\, membership starts from just £18 a year and can be purchased via the BSHM website. \nThe day before this meeting the ICHM will be holding a satellite meeting\, also in Oxford\, to celebrate honours recently awarded to historians of mathematics. Find out more. \n 
URL:http://bshm.ac.uk/event/research-in-progress/
LOCATION:The Queen’s College Oxford\, The Queen's College\, Oxford\, OX1 4AW\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:BSHM
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://bshm.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/1024px-Oxford__Queens_College_-_geograph.org_.uk_-_7182530.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="Brigitte Stenhouse":MAILTO:brigitte.stenhouse@bshm.ac.uk
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260306T140000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260306T170000
DTSTAMP:20260423T154614
CREATED:20260118T154610Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260227T095000Z
UID:1013-1772805600-1772816400@bshm.ac.uk
SUMMARY:ICHM: Celebration of honours recently awarded to historians of mathematics
DESCRIPTION:The International Commission on the History of Mathematics are holding a meeting to celebrate honours recently awarded to historians of mathematics. The event will take place at the Mathematical Institute\, Oxford (full details at the bottom of the page). \nRegistration for this event is now closed.  \n(This event is followed by the annual Research in Progress meeting of the BSHM on March 7th\, also in Oxford: find out more). \nProgramme \n14:00-14:45 Ursula Martin (University of Oxford) – DBE 2025\nAda Lovelace at 210: new research and open questions \n14:45-15:30 Henning Heller (University of Bonn) – ICHM Montucla Prize 2025\nMellen Woodman Haskell (1863–1948): An American mathematics student of the Wanderlust generation \n15:30-16:00 Break \n16:00-16:45 David E. Rowe (University of Mainz) – ICHM Kenneth O. May Medal and Prize 2025\nWhat Riemann learned from Gauss: When and How \n16:45-17:30 Jan Hogendijk (University of Utrecht) – ICHM Kenneth O. May Medal and Prize 2025\nApplied mathematics in Ottoman Palestine: The treatise by Taqi al-Din on sundials \n17:30-18:30 Drinks reception \n  \nAbstracts \nHenning Heller (University of Bonn)\, Mellen Woodman Haskell (1863–1948): An American mathematics student of the Wanderlust generation\nIn the late nineteenth century\, interest in mathematical research grew rapidly in the United States. As university-level mathematics was only beginning to take shape\, many aspiring scholars sought opportunities abroad in order to take their first steps in research. A central figure in this academic Wanderlust was the German mathematician Felix Klein\, who actively encouraged international students to study and work under his supervision. Among the earliest Americans to do so was Mellen Woodman Haskell. A Harvard graduate\, Haskell went to Leipzig in 1885 and subsequently followed Klein to his new post in Göttingen. He completed his doctoral dissertation under Klein in 1889 before returning to the United States\, where he was soon appointed professor at the newly founded University of California. There\, he played a central role in establishing and shaping the mathematics department until his retirement in 1933. This presentation examines Haskell’s formative years in Germany from both biographical and mathematical perspectives. His case illuminates the emergence of the United States as a leading nation in mathematical research and illustrates the wider dissemination of Klein’s vision of mathematics among both national and international scholars. The work presented here contributes to a recently published collaborative study of Klein’s international students. \n  \nJan Hogendijk (University of Utrecht)\, Applied mathematics in Ottoman Palestine: the treatise by Taqi al-Din on sundials\nTaqi al-Din ibn Ma`ruf was a capable Ottoman mathematician astronomer who was the director of the astronomical observatory in Istanbul between 1575 and 1580. Around 1567 he wrote a handbook on the constructions of sundials when he was qadi (Islamic judge) in Nablus\, now on the West Bank. The handbook has been preserved in circa 15 Arabic manuscripts (of which two important ones are in Oxford)\, but it has never been studied in modern times. In it\, Taqi al-Din explains detailed computations of sundials on planes of arbitrary position\, provided with a stylus parallel to the celestial axis. I will try to give an overview of the handbook\, and an impression of its style\, and then discuss its relevance for the relationship between science in Europe and the Islamic world in and after the Renaissance. \n  \nUrsula Martin (University of Oxford)\, Ada Lovelace at 210: new research and open questions\nIn 2015 Oxford mathematics celebrated Ada Lovelace’s 200th birthday with a symposium devoted to all aspects of her life and work. Lovelace is best known for her 1843 account of Charles Babbage’s design for an early computer\, his unbuilt Analytical Engine. Core to the celebration was the first scholarly investigation of the exchange of letters with Augustus De Morgan where she learned advanced mathematics. Hollings\, Martin and Rice demonstrated that\, contrary to earlier claims\, she possessed considerable mathematical knowledge and insight.\nIn this talk we discuss some further developments and open questions. Surprisingly\, Lovelace’s 1843 paper has been little analysed. While its technical descriptions are  vague in places\, it is a remarkable piece of science writing.  Over the past ten years Babbage’s designs for the analytical engine have been pieced together by the Plan 28 project\, and are now said to be in a  “useably publishable state of completion”.\nRecent work of Brigitte Stenhouse and others looks at the role of households in 19C mathematical work\, prompting questions about how Lovelace’s mother learned mathematics\, and the content of archive material related to her children’s studies. Drawing on recently unearthed letters between  Lovelace and John Herschel\, Louisiane Ferlier has studied Lovelace’s only other published work\, footnotes to her husband’s papers on climate in relation to husbandry.  Ferlier shows that Lovelace’s contribution went far beyond “footnotes”\, shaping the paper’s contribution through mathematical analysis\, data visualisations\, and ideas about novel instrumentation. \nDavid E. Rowe (University of Mainz)\, What Riemann learned from Gauss: When and How\nRiemann met Gauss in 1846/47 during his first year of studies in Göttingen. He then left to spend two eventful years studying mathematics and physics in Berlin\, before returning to Göttingen in 1849. Several clues suggest that by then he had already begun to develop some of the main ideas for his dissertation\, which he completed in 1851. Some of these ideas were directly inspired by Gauss\, but the question we will consider here concerns when and how he learned about them. Ideally\, one would like to understand the nature of Gauss’s influence on Riemann at that time. The circumstances surrounding his dissertation strongly suggest that he had few substantive personal interactions with Gauss\, who only learned about his thesis work after Riemann had submitted the text. Without entering deeply into the mathematics\, I will attempt to offer a plausible explanation for the ways in which Gaussian ideas influenced the young Riemann’s work.
URL:http://bshm.ac.uk/event/ichm-celebration-of-honours-recently-awarded-to-historians-of-mathematics/
LOCATION:Mathematical Institute\, Oxford\, Andrew Wiles Building\, OX2 6GG\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Non BSHM
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260304T160000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260304T173000
DTSTAMP:20260423T154614
CREATED:20260228T145310Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260413T120428Z
UID:1289-1772640000-1772645400@bshm.ac.uk
SUMMARY:SIGMA\, Upside-Down Cuneiform: The Depiction of Babylonian Mathematics in Games
DESCRIPTION:The SIGMA project based at the University of Edinburgh are hosting the forthcoming seminar by Dr Erica Meszaros. Joining instructions are below. \nUpside-Down Cuneiform: The Depiction of Babylonian Mathematics in Games \nBabylonian mathematics may seem like an esoteric topic; yet if you’re a gamer\, chances are you’ve run into the language at some point. From action-adventure platformers to open-world mystery games to collectible card games\, games slip in Babylonian references for seemingly myriad reasons. \nThis talk will introduce the basics of Babylonian mathematics\, including the sexagesimal system and the cuneiform script\, as a stepping stone to examining how this field is represented within games. In addition to showcasing examples from different gaming genres\, this talk presents a brief history of how later peoples have used and “misused” ancient scripts and numbers in ways that accrete meaning. Ultimately\, I am particularly interested in how the depiction of Babylonian material in games has shifted in recent history\, from early video games like Prince of Persia to the rise of escape rooms and tangible cuneiform puzzles. \nI argue that using Babylonian mathematical material “incorrectly” — say\, upside-down or as an alphabet — helps shape a new meaning that is in line with how earlier cultures also re-interpreted this content. \nZoom Joining Instructions \nhttps://edin.ac/4bbnEUX\nPasscode: nakkisu1
URL:http://bshm.ac.uk/event/sigma-upside-down-cuneiform-the-depiction-of-babylonian-mathematics-in-games/
LOCATION:Zoom (Online)
CATEGORIES:Non BSHM
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://bshm.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/sigma_erica_seminar.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260304T153000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260304T163000
DTSTAMP:20260423T154614
CREATED:20260209T114123Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260220T085252Z
UID:1205-1772638200-1772641800@bshm.ac.uk
SUMMARY:Jesper Lützen: A History of Mathematical Impossibility
DESCRIPTION:Professor Jesper Lützen (University of Copenhagen) will deliver a seminar at The Open University on A History of Mathematical Impossibility\, focusing especially on Arrow’s Impossibility Theorem (all ranked-choice voting procedures have spoilers). \nIf you would like to attend\, either in-person or via Microsoft Teams\, then please contact Dr Brigitte Stenhouse no later than February 25th via: brigitte.stenhouse[at]open.ac.uk. \nThe History of Impossibility Theorems and Arrow’s impossibility theorem in particular \nIn modern mathematics\, impossibility results occupy a prominent place. Famous examples include Fermat’s last theorem\, Gödel’s theorem\, the impossibility of squaring the circle with ruler and compass and the impossibility of solving the general quintic equation by radicals. I shall begin my talk by giving a survey of the historical development of such theorems. In particular\, I shall argue that such theorems were at first considered as unimportant compared with positive theorems\, and that they only gradually obtained the status of real mathematical results within mathematics having earlier been considered a kind of meta results about mathematics. The last part of my talk will deal with the history of Arrow’s surprising impossibility theorem stating that in an election with three or more candidates\, it is impossible to design an election procedure satisfying a few desirable and innocent looking requirements. Arrow’s proof (1950) of his impossibility theorem initiated the so-called theory of social choice. \n  \n  \n 
URL:http://bshm.ac.uk/event/jesper-lutzen-a-history-of-mathematical-impossibility/
LOCATION:The Open University\, Walton Hall\, Milton Keynes\, MK7 6AA\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Non BSHM
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://bshm.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/lutzenimpossible-1.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251206
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20251207
DTSTAMP:20260423T154614
CREATED:20260224T191803Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260301T203530Z
UID:1275-1764979200-1765065599@bshm.ac.uk
SUMMARY:BSHM 2025 AGM
DESCRIPTION:The relevant documents for the 2025 AGM can be viewed below. \nAGM 2025 Council Candidate Biographies.docx \nAGM_Agenda_06_Dec_25.docx \nAGM_Minutes_06_Dec_25.docx \nBSHM Report and Accounts 2024.pdf
URL:http://bshm.ac.uk/event/bshm-agm-2025/
CATEGORIES:BSHM
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