Viktor Blåsjö

History of mathematics; implications for historiography and philosophy of science, teaching; polemics thereof.

[Kazuma NISHIMURA 西村知真 @PHMP1123]

明日19時~の #PMP勉強会 ではViktor Blåsjöの「数学者の視点から見た数学の歴史記述」を読みます！

☆数学者による数学史的記述を現在主義的・時代錯誤的として拒絶するのではなく、その記述実践そのものを分析し、意義を評価・分析しようとする論文です（ざっくり）。

ご参加をお待ちしてます！

[Emil @EmilMieilica]

@gregeganSF Ever since @viktorblasjo came up with his series on Galileo (https://t.co/d2raUD4hnv) I had the tools to mock those that namedrop him as the paragon of science

[Grant Sanderson @3blue1brown]

There is a lot about Euclid’s Elements that is easily misunderstood. Some proofs seem to have logical gaps. Some constructions seem pointless, others seem needlessly convoluted.

Each of these provides a window into how the ancient Greeks thought about math and the philosophical role that geometry played.

In the fifth and final of a series of guest videos I've been posting, @BenSyversen delves into a question anybody who has had to do ruler and compass constructions in a geometry class may have wondered: What's the point?

https://t.co/nqKLQ7zQ4b

[Photorin @weltbuch]

Very comprehensive takedown of Galileo by @viktorblasjo
I don't think anyone has tried to frame a rebuttal, which I would find interesting because I don't share the anti-philosophy biases of the author
https://t.co/bSXSsDb2q6

[TeX Users Group @TeXUsersGroup]

Viktor Blåsjö's review of the book "Form & Number: A History of Mathematical Beauty" by Alan J. Cain, is now live at https://t.co/umZmjUhDbz

[Viktor Blåsjö @viktorblasjo]

@3blue1brown The 11th-century text by Biruni mentioned in this clip: https://t.co/i6bTOqcaW0

[Viktor Blåsjö @viktorblasjo]

@mmeijeri @yvanspijk @YoeriGeutskens "The term 'focus' for these points [foci of conic sections] was introduced by Kepler ... I know of no ancient or medieval term." Toomer, Diocles on Burning Mirrors, p. 15. Even though the Greeks certainly knew about the concept, both theoretically and practically.

[Viktor Blåsjö @viktorblasjo]

@dodecahedra Certainly. The "rigor" I don't like is for example proving the FTC using the Intermediate Value Theorem and such things. A purely intuitive proof of the FTC is much more useful in a calculus context, whereas the "rigorous" proof in that context only obscures the key idea.

[Viktor Blåsjö @viktorblasjo]

@dodecahedra Yes, I agree that Hobbes's argument basically doesn't work for this kind of reason. He is perhaps trying to say that infinitesimal methods generally assume non-Archimedean quantities, not referring to the specific slices used in any particular proof such as that of Torricelli.

[William Rose @dodecahedra]

Yesterday we got a new @viktorblasjo podcast all about Torricelli's trumpet, infinite geometric objects, and myths of math history. Entertaining, informative, hilarious, & way more detail than you probably want on parsing passages from the 17th century. https://t.co/VBbD0v9fok

[Viktor Blåsjö @viktorblasjo]

hyperbolas

[INTERIOR PORN @INTERIORPORN1]

saving this idea for my future apartment

[Steven Strogatz @stevenstrogatz]

Today I learned (ht @viktorblasjo) how Huygens summed the reciprocals of the triangular numbers. He regrouped the series and showed that it equals the geometric series 1+1/2+1/4+... = 2, like so!

[Matthew Arcus @MatthewArcus]

Euclid in Syriac, from the new exhibition at @theUL. https://t.co/sgF5qwAsDK

[Viktor Blåsjö @viktorblasjo]

@VisualAlgebra When integrating a separable diff eq, incorporate the initial condition as bounds of integration.

[Viktor Blåsjö @viktorblasjo]

@MBarany Yes, the confrontational approach is crude and imperfect (certainly including my contributions) but still better and more fruitful than the milquetoast bland fest some seem to prefer.

[Viktor Blåsjö @viktorblasjo]

Interesting comments on the geometrical algebra hypothesis in this review indeed. Among other things, "well-founded arguments have been advanced by V. Blåsjö" 🤗

[zbMATH Open @zbMATH]

... algebra and arithmetic", says Athanase Papadopoulos's review https://t.co/LxlWsqXKv0.
The review gives also a detailed update on the state and recent discussions on the field of geometric algebra, closely related to the second book of Euclid's elements. 2/2

[Viktor Blåsjö @viktorblasjo]

@mmeijeri Indeed. Numerical calculations of areas and volumes by multiplying numbers were certainly commonplace in practical economic contexts. Formal mathematics often hides its intuitive or applied origins, then as now. Høyrup is good on this.

[Viktor Blåsjö @viktorblasjo]

@snezanalawrence Alchemy Hall of Fame

[Viktor Blåsjö @viktorblasjo]

@Helenreflects Way beneath the ambition of Leibniz. Galileo couldn't quit his shitty university professorship fast enough when his fame took off. Newton too grew way too elite for a provincial Cambridge job and quit. And these were much better universities!

[Viktor Blåsjö @viktorblasjo]

How to Triangulate Your Dragon

[The Public Domain Review @PublicDomainRev]

The innovative and, at times, wonderfully surreal engravings from Johann Zahn’s Oculus Artificialis (1685), an early and comprehensive account of the function and usage of a number of optical instruments, including the camera obscura and magic lantern: https://t.co/1D0MQBswse