José Babini (10 May 1897, Buenos Aires – 18 May 1984, Buenos Aires) was a mathematician, engineer, and historian of mathematics and mathematical sciences. Babini worked for a construction company, where the owners recognized his mathematical talent and made it possible for him to pursue academic study. From 1918 he studied in Buenos Aires. In 1921 he graduated with a qualification to teach natural science and mathematics. In 1922 he received his degree as a civil engineer. Already in 1917 he contacted the well-known Spanish mathematician Julio Rey Pastor. Instead of working as a civil engineer, Babini taught mathematics at the Faculty for Industrial Chemistry of the ''Universidad Nacional del Litoral'' in

Rosario Rosario () is the largest city in the central provinces of Argentina, Argentine province of Santa Fe Province, Santa Fe. The city is located northwest of Buenos Aires, on the west bank of the Paraná River. Rosario is the third-most populous ci ...

. There he introduced new methods of numerical analysis and was considered a leading Argentine expert in this field. He then taught at the Faculty of Sciences of Education (''Facultad de Ciencias de la Educación'') in

Paraná, Entre Ríos Paraná () is the capital city of the Argentine province Entre Ríos, located on the eastern shore of the Paraná River, opposite the city of Santa Fe, capital of the neighbouring Santa Fe Province. The city has a population of 247,863 (). Hi ...

and at the ''Colegio Nacional y la Escuela Industrial''. When

Aldo Mieli Aldo Mieli (4 December 1879 – 16 February 1950) was an influential historian of science, and a pioneer of gay rights. Early life and education Born in 1879 in Livorno, Italy to a wealthy Jewish family, Mieli was raised on Chianciano, a small s ...

in 1938 came from Paris to Argentina, he and Babini founded at the ''Universidad Nacional del Litoral'' in Rosario the ''Instituto de Historia y Filosofía de la Ciencia'' (with the support of Rey Pastor). The ''Instituto'' existed until 1943. Babini was an editor for the journal ''Archeion'' (founded by Mieli in 1919 with the name ''Archivio di Storia della Scienza'') and with Mieli edited the series ''Panorama general de historia del ciencia'' in 12 volumes. In this series, Babini wrote, with Desiderio Papp, ''El siglo de iluminismo'' on the exact sciences in the 19th century (volume number 8 of the series). He was a major organizer of science in Argentina and a member of the national research council CONICET. From 1955 to 1966 he was the dean of the ''Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales'' of the National University in Buenos Aires. In 1957 he was the rector and interim director of the newly founded ''Universidad Nacional del Nordeste''. He also presided over Argentina's newly founded university publishing house EUDEBA (''Editorial Universitaria de Buenos Aires''). Babini was a member of the editorial board of ''Historical Studies in the Physical Sciences'' and was a co-founder of the journal ''Quipu: Revista Latinoamericana de Historia de las Ciencias y la Tecnología'' (based in Mexico City). He was Invited Speaker of the ICM in 1928 in Bologna. He was the author, co-author, or editor of numerous books (at least 70) and essays as well as translations. In particular, he also published the first books on the history of science as it developed in Argentina.

Selected publications

*with J. Rey Pastor: Historia de la matemática, 1953 *Biografía de los infinitamente pequeños, 1957 *Historia sucinta de la matemática, 1953 *Origen y naturaleza de la ciencia, 1947 *Arquímedes, 1948 *Historia de la ciencia argentina, 1951 *La evolución del pensamiento cientifico en la Argentina, 1953 *El saber en la historia, 1971 *El siglo de las luces: ciencia y tecnología, 1971 *Historia de la medicina, 1980

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Babini, Jose Historians of mathematics 1897 births 1984 deaths People from Buenos Aires 20th-century Argentine mathematicians