This PhD project investigates the development, use, and cultural significance of numerical tables and associated computational procedures from any time period from antiquity through the early modern period. Numerical tables—ranging from Babylonian multiplication and reciprocal tables to medieval astronomical ephemerides and Renaissance logarithmic tables—were foundational tools for computation long before the advent of modern calculators. This project examines how such tables were constructed, interpreted, and deployed by mathematicians, merchants, astronomers, and engineers, shedding light on both the mathematical techniques and the broader intellectual and practical contexts in which they operated.
Special focus will be placed on the methods used to generate and verify tabular data, the transmission of tabular formats across cultures, and the evolving relationship between tables and algorithmic procedures. Drawing on manuscript and early printed sources, the research will trace how numerical tables facilitated advances in fields such as astronomy, navigation, commerce, and early science. By situating tables as both mathematical artefacts and cultural products, this project aims to illuminate their role in shaping mathematical practices.
Supervisors
Primary Supervisor: Clemency Montelle
Key qualifications and skills
Mathematics, interest in historical themes and documents
Does the project come with funding
No - Student must be self-funded
Final date for receiving applications
Ongoing
How to apply
Email to primary supervisor
Keywords
History of Mathematics; Numerical Tables
