Every few years, the world’s leading scholars of medieval Arabic mathematics gather on Africa’s northern coast to discuss their passion. As one might imagine, it’s a small and somewhat eccentric club.
Nonetheless, Professor Jeffrey Oaks, chairman of UIndy’s Department of Mathematics & Computer Science, is among those select few, and he amused an audience of colleagues and students today with tales of academic obscurity from the 10th Maghrebian Colloquium on the History of Arabic Mathematics. In May, he joined two dozen other math historians from various nations who presented at the three-day event in Tunis, Tunisia.
These are folks who pore over centuries-old manuscripts, written in Arabic and sometimes translated into Latin or Italian, to better understand the origins of modern math principles. They all know each other by reputation, if not personally. And because they often review each other’s published findings, interesting friendships — and rivalries — can result.
Also, as math history isn’t a discrete academic discipline in itself, its scholars hail from specialties as diverse as math, history, philosophy and philology.
“None of us is really competent to do what we do,” Oaks quipped. “It’s kind of a funny group of people.”
Oaks’ topic at the conference was the reluctance of early Arabic mathematicians to acknowledge algebra and geometry as mutually affirming disciplines. Among his current projects is co-editing, with the conference organizer, a translation of a 14th-century text.
