Abstract

The aim of my talk today is to examine the advantages of combining different historical approaches in the history of mathematics. I will first highlight key insights from a 2022 article I co-authored with Thomas Morel, which provided a partial and subjective assessment of recent historiography in the field. Next, I will present concrete case studies from a collaborative research project involving a dozen historians of science. One of the outcomes of this project was the 2023 publication Arranger, disposer, combiner. Théories de l’ordre dans les sciences, les arts d’ornement et la philosophie (1770–1910) co-edited with Christophe Eckes. A central methodological principle of our work was the deliberate integration of diverse historical genres, which proved particularly fruitful in uncovering mathematical practices used by non-mathematicians or in non-mathematical disciplines.