AtD - Math Wars - historical context and figures

[matthew cissell]

Hello to All,

I know the list is deep into the CoL49 read, in which I cannot participate,
but some might also be looking to the up-coming International Pynchon Week
being hosted by the fine folk of Belgrad University.

Past conferences have generated some great papers that have gone on to
publication and can be found in places like Orbit. If you, like many that
come from Humanities, feel a bit weak on the math and surrounding history
referred to or alluded to in AtD, I have something for you.

There is a super-abundance of information about the various mathematics
that appears in AtD, and also about mathematicians, though I have never
looked very far to compare. However, I have found one source that seems to
have it pitched just about right for the laity (like me) and those
interested in Pynchon's most mathematical novel.

On Youtube there is a channel called "Kathy Loves Physics & History''. She
has one video that really digs into the strong feelings that developed over
the use of Hamilton's Quaternions. Moreover, she has this placed within the
historical context of the math and its applications that are coming up in
telegraphy (at the time) and later for radio, citing from Faraday and
Maxwell up to Hertz and Lorentz. At one point she refers to the "Vector
Wars"; it is an hour well spent in my opinion.

How Maxwell's Equations (and Quaternions) Led to Vector Analysis -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M12CJIuX8D4
All the best with the Read

ciao
mc otis