Technology and Mathematics: Philosophical and Historical Investigations

Description

This volume is the first extensive study of the historical and philosophical connections between technology and mathematics. Coverage includes the use of mathematics in ancient as well as modern technology, devices and machines for computation, cryptology, mathematics in technological education, the epistemology of computer-mediated proofs, and the relationship between technological and mathematical computability. The book also examines the work of such historical figures as Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, Charles Babbage, Ada Lovelace, and Alan Turing. Front Matter ....Pages i-xii Front Matter ....Pages 1-1 Introduction (Sven Ove Hansson)....Pages 3-10 Front Matter ....Pages 11-11 Mathematics and Technology Before the Modern Era (Sven Ove Hansson)....Pages 13-31 Computation in Medieval Western Europe (Sara L. Uckelman)....Pages 33-46 Leibniz and the Calculus Ratiocinator (Wolfgang Lenzen)....Pages 47-78 Mathematics and Mechanical Computation (Doron Swade)....Pages 79-106 The Mathematical Origins of Modern Computing (Mark Priestley)....Pages 107-135 Cryptology, Mathematics, and Technology (Sandy Zabell)....Pages 137-161 Front Matter ....Pages 163-163 The Epistemology of Computer-Mediated Proofs (Selmer Bringsjord, Naveen Sundar Govindarajulu)....Pages 165-183 Mathematical and Technological Computability (Sven Ove Hansson)....Pages 185-234 On Explaining Non-dynamically the Quantum Correlations Via Quantum Information Theory: What It Takes (Mauro Dorato, Laura Felline)....Pages 235-251 Universality, Invariance, and the Foundations of Computational Complexity in the Light of the Quantum Computer (Michael E. Cuffaro)....Pages 253-282 Front Matter ....Pages 283-283 Mathematical Models of Technological and Social Complexity (Ronald Kline)....Pages 285-303 The Rise and Fall of the Anti-Mathematical Movement (Sven Ove Hansson)....Pages 305-323 Reflections on the Empirical Applicability of Mathematics (Tor Sandqvist)....Pages 325-343 What the Applicability of Mathematics Says About Its Philosophy (Phil Wilson)....Pages 345-373