Forms of Knowledge in the Ancient World: Research Centre in Classics Mathematics Philosophy

Forms of Knowledge in the Ancient World: Research Centre in Classics Mathematics Philosophy

Otto Toeplitz, one of the greatest mathematicians of the 20th century, who worked with David Hilbert at the University of Göttingen, called for a radical change in the working method of research on the history of mathematics: a new system of cooperation between philologists and mathematicians, in order to open the doors to the understanding of science and its history. For this purpose, he started, together with other first-class scholars like Otto Neugebauer and Julius Stenzel, the review ‘Quellen und Studien zur Geschichte der Naturwissenschaften und der Mathematik’, which published fundamental contributions on these topics; unfortunately, its activity was soon interrupted because of the difficult situation of Germany in the thirties.

The inter-departmental Research Centre «Forms of Knowledge in the Ancient World», established in 2013 at the University of Rome “Tor Vergata”, shares this goal and aims at connecting different disciplines on the topic of the origin and development of scientific thought, with primary reference to Greco-Roman antiquity, but with close attention to the Eastern and Mediterranean worlds – the Arabic, Indian and Chinese cultures – whose study offers important feedback for research. The Centre, which since its institution has been characterized by an interdisciplinary perspective, was founded by mathematicians, philosophers and classicists, and aims at offering a substantial contribution to studies on ancient science and its related domains, as well as on its socio-historical, institutional, literary and philosophical context, and at exploring the repercussions of studies on classical antiquity, in order to understand some fundamental developments of modern and contemporary science...

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