Clemency Montelle (born 8 July 1977) is a New Zealand historian of mathematics known for her research on

Indian mathematics Indian mathematics emerged in the Indian subcontinent from 1200 BCE until the end of the 18th century. In the classical period of Indian mathematics (400 CE to 1200 CE), important contributions were made by scholars like Aryabhata, Brahmagupta ...

and

Indian astronomy Astronomy has long history in Indian subcontinent stretching from pre-historic to modern times. Some of the earliest roots of Indian astronomy can be dated to the period of Indus Valley civilisation or earlier. Astronomy later developed as a dis ...

. She is a professor of mathematics at the

University of Canterbury The University of Canterbury ( mi, Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was ...

, and a fellow of the New Zealand India Research Institute of the

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington ( mi, Te Herenga Waka) is a university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. The university is well know ...

Education

Montelle is originally from Christchurch. She earned first class honours in mathematics and classical studies at the University of Canterbury in 1999, and completed a master's degree there in 2000. It was not until the fourth year of her studies that, finding a copy of Euclid in the original Greek, she realized that she could reconcile her two interests by working in the history of mathematics. She became a

Fulbright Scholar The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

, where she learned

Cuneiform Cuneiform is a logo-syllabic script that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Middle East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. It is named for the characteristic wedge-sha ...

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

, and

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

. She completed a Ph.D. in the history of mathematics there in 2005; at Brown, her faculty mentors included

David Pingree David Edwin Pingree (January 2, 1933, New Haven, Connecticut – November 11, 2005, Providence, Rhode Island) was an American historian of mathematics in the ancient world. He was a University Professor and Professor of History of Mathematics ...

Alice Slotsky Alice Louise Slotsky (née Weisfeld) was an American historian of mathematics and Assyriologist known for her studies of Babylonian mathematics and Babylonian accounting and for her popular courses at Brown University on the Akkadian language. E ...

, and

Kim Plofker Kim Leslie Plofker (born November 25, 1964) is an American historian of mathematics, specializing in Indian mathematics. Education and career Born in Chennai, India, Plofker received her bachelor's degree in mathematics from Haverford College. She ...

Service

Montelle was vice president of the Commission for the History of Ancient and Medieval Astronomy for the 2017–2021 term.

Books

Montelle is the author of the book ''Chasing Shadows: Mathematics, Astronomy, and the Early Reckoning of Eclipse theory'' (Johns Hopkins Press, 2011). With

, she is the coauthor of ''Sanskrit Astronomical Tables'' (Springer, 2019).

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Montelle, Clemency 1977 births Living people New Zealand women mathematicians Historians of mathematics University of Canterbury alumni University of Canterbury faculty