Sven Ove Hansson - Technology and Mathematics: Philosophical and Historical Investigations

The Philosophy of Engineering and Technology book series provides the multifaceted and rapidly growing discipline of philosophy of technology with a central overarching and integrative platform. Specifically it publishes edited volumes and monographs in: the phenomenology, anthropology and socio-politics of technology and engineering the emergent fields of the ontology and epistemology of artifacts, design, knowledge bases, and instrumentation engineering ethics and the ethics of specific technologies ranging from nuclear technologies to the converging nano-, bio-, information and cognitive technologies written from philosophical and practitioners perspectives and authored by philosophers and practitioners. The series also welcomes proposals that bring these fields together or advance philosophy of engineering and technology in other integrative ways. Proposals should include: A short synopsis of the work or the introduction chapter. The proposed Table of Contents The CV of the lead author(s). If available: one sample chapter. We aim to make a first decision within 1 month of submission. In case of a positive first decision the work will be provisionally contracted: the final decision about publication will depend upon the result of the anonymous peer review of the complete manuscript. We aim to have the completework peer-reviewed within 3 months of submission. The series discourages the submission of manuscripts that contain reprints of previous published material and/or manuscripts that are below 150 pages / 75,000 words. For inquiries and submission of proposals authors can contact the editor-in-chief Pieter Vermaas via: p.e.vermaas@tudelft.nl, or contact one of the associate editors.

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The relationship between mathematics and the natural sciences has been subject to much discussion and investigation from both historical and philosophical points of view. Since I work at a technological university whose major educational task is to teach and train future engineers, I have plenty of opportunities to observe and reflect on the equally interesting relationship between mathematics and technology. But when searching the literature, I found very little on the topic.

It does not take much reflection to realise that this gap in the literature needs to be filled. Already in pre-literate times, craftspeople depended on their mathematical acumen. Early makers of bronze and other mixtures must have understood the notion of proportions. The weaving of fabrics with beautiful symmetrical patterns required considerable mastery of geometry, and so did many of the ancient and medieval building projects. In modern times, the role of mathematics in technology has been further strengthened. Since the nineteenth century, engineering relies heavily on mechanics, electrodynamics, and other mathematics-based physical theories. Conversely, mathematics depends increasingly on electronic computing. There have been substantial philosophical discussions on computer-mediated proofs and, of course, on the notion of computability, but the technological implications seem to have gone largely unnoticed in these deliberations.

In this book, investigations of a wide range of aspects on the technologymathematics relationship have been brought together for the first time. Hopefully, this can inspire further studies. There is much more to be done in this area!