John Fauvel (21 July 1947 – 12 May 2001) was a British mathematician and historian of mathematics.[1][2]

John Fauvel
Born(1947-07-21)21 July 1947
Died12 May 2001(2001-05-12) (aged 53)
CitizenshipUnited Kingdom
Alma materUniversity of Essex
University of Warwick
Known forPresident of the British Society for the History of Mathematics
Scientific career
FieldsMathematics
History of mathematics
InstitutionsOpen University
Thesis Fuzzy Theory  (1976)
Doctoral advisorDavid Orme Tall

Education edit

Fauvel was from Scotland, where his father was a principal. Ian Blair was a cousin.

John attended Trinity College, Glenalmond. He then studied mathematics at the University of Essex, where he graduated in 1970, and at the University of Warwick, where he obtained his master's degree in 1973. In 1977, he obtained his MPhil from the University of Warwick under the supervision of David Orme Tall, with a thesis entitled Fuzzy Theory.[3]

Career edit

From 1974, Fauvel worked at the Open University. From 1991 to 1994, he was President of the British Society for the History of Mathematics and he also edited its newsletter. From 1992 to 1996, he directed an international study group on the relations between history and mathematics pedagogy, which is affiliated with the International Commission for Mathematical Education (ICMI), and in 2000 he co-directed a major study of ICMI. In 1998, he was invited lecturer by the New Zealand Mathematical Society.[1] Fauvel was a visiting scholar in the Mathematics Department at Colorado College on several occasions, including one on a Fulbright Fellowship during the Winter and Spring of 1999.

Fauvel died on 12 May 2001 of complications from liver disease.[1]

Publications edit

Fauvel is known as an editor of books on the history of mathematics,[4] several of which have been translated.

  • Fauvel, John; Flood, Raymond; Wilson, Robin, eds. (2003). Music and Mathematics: From Pythagoras to Fractals. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-851187-6. 2006 2nd edition. ISBN 0-19-929893-9.[5]
  • Fauvel, John; Flood, Raymond; Wilson, Robin, eds. (2000). Oxford Figures: 800 Years of the Mathematical Sciences. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-852309-2.[6] 2013 2nd edition. ISBN 9780199681976.[7]
  • Fauvel, John; Flood, Raymond; Wilson, Robin, eds. (1993). Möbius and his band: Mathematics and astronomy in nineteenth-century Germany. Oxford University Press. ISBN 019853969X.
  • Fauvel, John; Flood, Raymond; Shortland, Michael; Wilson, Robin, eds. (1988). Let Newton be!. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-853924-X.[8]
  • Edited with Jeremy Gray: The history of mathematics: A reader. Macmillan, 1987; 1997 pbk edition. Mathematical Association of America. ISBN 0333427912.
  • Edited with Bengt Johansson, Frank Swetz, Otto Bekken, and Victor J. Katz: Learn from the Masters. MAA, 1994. 1995 pbk edition. ISBN 0-88385-703-0.
  • Fauvel, John (December 1992). "Remembering Charles Babbage (1791–1871)". Interdisciplinary Science Reviews. 17 (4): 304–308. Bibcode:1992ISRv...17..304F. doi:10.1179/ISR.1992.17.4.304.
  • Fauvel, J. (1990). Mathematics through history: a resource guide. York: QED Books. ISBN 0946544719; 47 pages{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  • Chant, Colin; Fauvel, John, eds. (1980). Darwin to Einstein: historical studies on science and belief. ISBN 0582491576.

References edit

  1. ^ a b c Gray, Jeremy (22 June 2001). "John Fauvel – Chronicler of the history of mathematics". The Guardian.
  2. ^ Gray, J. J. (July 2003). "Obituary: John Grant Fauvel (1947–2001)". Bulletin of the London Mathematical Society. 35 (4). London Mathematical Society: 565–569. doi:10.1112/S0024609302001674.
  3. ^ John Fauvel at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
  4. ^ "John Fauvel". Amazon.co.uk. Amazon. Retrieved 14 July 2021.
  5. ^ Shulman, Bonnie (21 November 2006). "review of Music and Mathematics: From Pythagoras to Fractals". MAA Reviews, Mathematical Association of America.
  6. ^ Atzema, Eisso (3 January 2002). "review of Oxford Figures: 800 Years of the Mathematical Sciences". MAA Reviews, Mathematical Association of America.
  7. ^ Gouvêa, Fernando Q. (23 March 2014). "review of Oxford Figures: Eight Centuries of the Mathematical Sciences, 2nd edition". MAA Reviews, Mathematical Association of America.
  8. ^ Brackenridge, J. Bruce (1989). "Review of Let Newton Be edited by John Fauvel, Raymond Flood, Michael Shortland, & Robin Wilson". The British Journal for the History of Science. 22 (4): 475–477. doi:10.1017/S0007087400026649. S2CID 144558093.

External links edit