Previous winners

2022/23: 

Eleanor Brittain (University of Cambridge) ‘Wh.1754: The Crossing of Mathematics, Religion and Art’

2022/23 Runner-up: 

James Hayes (University of Galway), ‘Hilbert's Space: How David Hilbert's Mentorship Shaped Mathematics’

2022/23 Runner-up: 

Felix Lindsay-Smith (University of Lincoln), ‘A preliminary investigation regarding the obscurity of Omar Khayyam's method of computing cubic roots’.

2021/22: 

Zakkai Goriely (Oxford University), 'British Mathematical Reformers in the Nineteenth Century: Motivations and Methods'

2021/22 Runner-up: 

Ffinlo Wright (University of St Andrews), 'A Turning Point for Game Theory: Situating John F. Nash in the History of Economic Thought'

2020/21: 

Ellen Flower (Oxford University), 'The ‘analysis’ of a century: Influences on the etymological development of the word 'analysis' in a mathematical context to 1750'

George Waters (London School of Economics), 'Exploring the use of mathematics to obtain consensus'

2020/2021 runner up:

Aoife Kearins (Trinity College Dublin), 'Proofs, Partnerships and the Penny Post: How the Development of the U.K. Postal Service Made Mathematics Collaborative'

2019/20: 

Natasha Bailie (Queen's University, Belfast), 'Quantifying the unquantifiable: the role of mathematicisation of philosophy during seventeenth century Scotland'

2019/2020 runners up: 

Emma Lepinay (University of Oxford), 'Treatise of Algebra: John Wallis’ journey towards understanding complex numbers'

Molly Chung (University of St Andrews), 'The effects of rivalry on mathematical development in Europe'

Arman Jena (London School of Economics), 'The 20th century development of Linear Programming in USA and USSR'

Sasha Ramani (University of York), 'Deep rooted evidence of the use of mathematical principles in music'

We did not award the prize in 2018-19.

2017-18: 

Kamilla Rekvenyi (University of St Andrews) for her essay, 'Paul Erdös’ Mathematics as a Social Activity', subsequently published in the British Journal for the History of Mathematics, readable here.

2016/17:

Eli Hymson (University of Exeter), 'Unreasonable Effectiveness of Foundationless Mathematics'

2016/17 highly commended: 

Siddhi Doshi, 'The evolution of the game theory as a foundation in economic analysis'

Stefan Kitic (London School of Economics), 'What is “money” and does its use require “mathematics”?'

2015/16:

Michael Seal (London School of Economics), 'Was there a Revolution in Analysis in the Early 19th Century?'

Brigitte Stenhouse (University of Oxford), 'How Financial Instability Influenced the Mathematical Publications of Mary Somerville'

2014/15:

Edwin Reynolds (University of Oxford), ‘To What Extent Were the Contributions of Cauchy to the Development of Rigour in Analysis Influenced by Those of Lagrange?'

2013/14:

Remus Stana (University of Glasgow), 'Mathematics in Nazi Germany' 

2012/13:

Ryan Stanley (University of Exeter), 'Dedekind, Cantor and the rigour of calculus' 

2011/12:

Stephanie Crampin (University of Oxford), 'The contribution of Évariste Galois to the founding of group theory'

Nicole Johannesen (University of St Andrews), 'The application of mathematical understanding in the ancient Olympic Games'