Sanskrit versus Greek ‘Proofs’: History of Mathematics at the Crossroads of Philology and Mathematics in Nineteenth-Century Germany
Résumé
The present paper is intended as a contribution to a critical history of historiography of mathematics, in which history of mathematics is regarded as closely connected to cultural history as a whole. The focus is on analyzing the ways in which a contrast between Sanskrit and Greek mathematics was constructed in nineteenth-century Germany, as Colebrooke's English translations of Sanskrit mathematical sources spread in both philological and mathematical circles. By keeping track of the shifting significance which this contrast took on for different protagonists operating within different social contexts, one is also provided with a distinctive thread so as to unfold a more encompassing narrative. From a broader perspective, our purpose is to highlight the shaping of history of mathematics at the crossroads of philology and mathematics within nineteenth-century German academia.