The Development of 19th Century Geometrical Knowledge: Projective Geometry, Duality, Reflection and Inversion

The great advancement of geometrical knowledge in the 19th century is often discussed in the framework of non-Euclidean geometries. However, some of the geometrical practices introduced in this century do not receive an adequate treatment in historical and philosophical scholarship. Little has been written on the development of these methods and the investigation of their mutual influences has been mostly neglected. This workshop offers an environment for historians and philosophers of mathematics to discuss the relationship between the new geometrical practices of the 19th century and the common characteristics of the knowledge they produce. More specifically, the workshop concentrates on the common features and differences between projective geometry, duality, reflection and circle inversion. The discussions are meant to explore mutual historical and theoretical influences between these mathematical practices, including their development in relation to modern logic.

Important information for implementation during the Covid-19 pandemic of the workshop:
The workshop will take place in hybrid form. This means that some of the speakers and participants will be on site at ETH Zurich, while the others will be connected via Zoom.

To participate in the workshop, registration by e-mail at turingcentre@ethz.ch is mandatory. When registering, you must indicate whether you want to participate in the workshop physically or via zoom. Participants who wish to physically attend the workshop must adhere to the ETH Zurich’s protection concept, which we will inform you about upon registration. Participants who belong to the risk group according to BAG are advised not to physically participate in the workshop.

The workshop is part of Academic exchange program «Knowledge in Society» between the Center «History of Knowledge» ( ETH Zurich & University of Zurich) and the Cohn Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Ideas (Tel Aviv University) funded by the Daniel Gablinger-Stiftung.