Kirsti Andersen

Kirsti Møller Andersen (born December 9, 1941), 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, where she had her Candidate examination in 1967. She has written on the early history of mathematical analysis (for example, Cavalieri and Roberval).

Andersen has also written extensively on the history of graphical perspective. In a 1985 article[1] she related the science of perspective as described by Simon Stevin, Frans van Schooten, Willem 's Gravesande, Brook Taylor, and Johann Heinrich Lambert. In a 1987 article[2] she examined the ancient roots of linear perspective as found in Euclid's Optics and Ptolemy (Geography and Planisphaerium). In 1991 she recalled Desargues’ method of perspective.[3] In 1992 her book[4] on Brook Taylor appeared, and she wrote on the alternative "plan and elevation technique".[5] In 2007 her 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."[6] The book covers Leon Battista Alberti, Piero della Francesca, Albrecht Dürer, 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 in high school history classes.

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

Selected publications

Notes

  1. 1985: "Some observations concerning mathematicians' treatment of perspective constructions in the 17th and 18th centuries", Mathematica 409425, Boethius Texte Abh. Gesch. Exakt Wissensch. XII, Steiner, Weisbaden, MR 0799760
  2. 1987: "Ancient roots of linear perspective, from ancient omens to statistical mechanics", Acta. Hist. Sci. ANat. Med. Edidit. Bibl. Univ. Haun. 39:7589 MR 961873
  3. 1991: "Desargues method of perspective: its mathematical content, its connection to other perspective methods and its relation to Desargues ideas on projective geometry", Centaurus 34(1):4491 MR 1144397
  4. 1992: Brook Taylor's Work on Linear Perspective: A study of Taylor's role in the history of perspective geometry. Including facsimiles of Taylor's two books on perspective, Springer-Verlag ISBN 0-387-97486-5 MR 1152797
  5. 1992: "Perspective and the plan and elevation technique, in particular in the work by Piero della Francesca", Amphora 123, Birkhäuser MR 1192315
  6. 2007: The Geometry of an Art. The history of the mathematical theory of perspective from Alberti to Monge, Springer ISBN 978-0-387-25961-1 MR 2269816

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, July 16, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.