Kirsti Andersen (born December 9, 1941, Copenhagen), published under the name Kirsti Pedersen, is a Danish historian of mathematics. She is an Associate Professor of the History of Science at

Aarhus University Aarhus University ( da, Aarhus Universitet, abbreviated AU) is a public research university with its main campus located in Aarhus, Denmark. It is the second largest and second oldest university in Denmark. The university is part of the Coimbra Gr ...

, where she had her Candidate examination in 1967.

Work

Andersen has written on the early history of mathematical analysis (for example,

Cavalieri Cavalieri is an Italian surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bonaventura Cavalieri (1598–1647), Italian mathematician * Caterina Cavalieri (1755–1801), Austrian opera soprano * Diego Cavalieri (born 1982), Brazilian footb ...

and Roberval). She has also written extensively on the history of graphical perspective. In a 1985 article she related the science of perspective as described by

Simon Stevin Simon Stevin (; 1548–1620), sometimes called Stevinus, was a Flemish mathematician, scientist and music theorist. He made various contributions in many areas of science and engineering, both theoretical and practical. He also translated vario ...

, Frans van Schooten, Willem 's Gravesande,

Brook Taylor Brook Taylor (18 August 1685 – 29 December 1731) was an English mathematician best known for creating Taylor's theorem and the Taylor series, which are important for their use in mathematical analysis. Life and work Brook Taylor w ...

, and Johann Heinrich Lambert. In a 1987 article she examined the ancient roots of linear perspective as found in Euclid's Optics and Ptolemy ( Geography and Planisphaerium). In 1991 she recalled

Desargues Girard Desargues (; 21 February 1591 – September 1661) was a French mathematician and engineer, who is considered one of the founders of projective geometry. Desargues' theorem, the Desargues graph, and the crater Desargues (crater), Desarg ...

’ method of perspective. In 1992 her book on Brook Taylor appeared, and she wrote on the alternative "plan and elevation technique". In 2007 her '' The Geometry of an Art'' provided a comprehensive study. According to the publisher’s summary, the book is a "case study of the difficulties in bridging the gap between those with mathematical knowledge and the mathematically untrained practitioners who wish to use this knowledge."2007: ''The Geometry of an Art. The history of the mathematical theory of perspective from Alberti to Monge'', Springer The book covers Leon Battista Alberti, Piero della Francesca,

Albrecht Dürer Albrecht Dürer (; ; hu, Ajtósi Adalbert; 21 May 1471 – 6 April 1528),Müller, Peter O. (1993) ''Substantiv-Derivation in Den Schriften Albrecht Dürers'', Walter de Gruyter. . sometimes spelled in English as Durer (without an umlaut) or Due ...

, Leonardo da Vinci, Guidobaldo del Monte, and Gaspard Monge as well as the previously mentioned authors. Andersen has also written about Danish history of mathematics, and has championed the use of

mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

in high school history classes. In 2005 she was awarded a doctorate in Aarhus. She is married to Henk Bos.

Selected publications

*Andersen, Kirsti (1985) "Cavalieri's method of indivisibles", Archive for History of Exact Sciences 31(4): 291–367. *Bos, H. J. M.; Bunn, R.; Dauben, Joseph W.;

Grattan-Guinness Ivor Owen Grattan-Guinness (23 June 1941 – 12 December 2014) was a historian of mathematics and logic. Life Grattan-Guinness was born in Bakewell, England; his father was a mathematics teacher and educational administrator. He gained his ...

, I.; Hawkins, Thomas W.; Pedersen, Kirsti Møller (1980) ''From the calculus to set theory, 1630–1910. An introductory history'', edited by

Ivor Grattan-Guinness Ivor Owen Grattan-Guinness (23 June 1941 – 12 December 2014) was a historian of mathematics and logic. Life Grattan-Guinness was born in Bakewell, England; his father was a mathematics teacher and educational administrator. He gained his bac ...

Gerald Duckworth and Company Ltd. Duckworth Books, originally Gerald Duckworth and Company, founded in 1898 by Gerald Duckworth, is a British publisher.istory of algebra''Eine Einführung''.

n introduction N, or n, is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''. History ...

''Lehrbücher und Monographien zur Didaktik der Mathematik'' extbooks and Monographs on the Didactics of Mathematics 16. Bibliographisches Institut, Mannheim, . *Andersen, Kirsti (1980) "An impression of mathematics in Denmark in the period 1600–1800", Special issue dedicated to Olaf Pedersen on his sixtieth birthday. Centaurus 24: 316–334. *Andersen, Kirsti (2007), ''The Geometry of an Art: The History of the Mathematical Theory of Perspective from Alberti to Monge'', Springer *Andersen, Kirsti (2011) "One of Berkeley's arguments on compensating errors in the calculus",

Historia Mathematica ''Historia Mathematica: International Journal of History of Mathematics'' is an academic journal on the history of mathematics published by Elsevier. It was established by Kenneth O. May in 1971 as the free newsletter ''Notae de Historia Mathemat ...

38(2): 219–231.

Notes

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Andersen, Kirsti 1941 births Living people Danish historians of mathematics Danish women historians 20th-century Danish women writers 20th-century Danish historians 21st-century Danish women writers 21st-century Danish historians