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SUMMARY:Calculating Prodigies in the Nineteenth Century: Science as Specta
 cle or Real Skill? - Caroline Ehrhardt (Paris 8 University Vincennes-Saint
 -Denis)
DTSTART:20250117T093000Z
DTEND:20250117T103000Z
UID:TALK225466@talks.cam.ac.uk
DESCRIPTION:A calculating prodigy\, or mental calculator\, is someone who 
 can mentally perform mathematical operations involving very large numbers 
 or very fast mental calculations. From the nineteenth to the beginning of 
 the twentieth century\, this phenomenon met with considerable interest\, a
 nd several calculating prodigies became famous enough for us to trace thei
 r careers. They found themselves at the crossroads of three worlds: the wo
 rld of entertainment\, where their skill at juggling numbers was admired\;
  the world of the brain and psyche\, where their peculiarities were explai
 ned and used to better understand how the brain functions\; and finally\, 
 the world of mathematics\, where the reproducibility of their methods and 
 their potential as future scientists were of interest. By examining the co
 mmonalities in their trajectories\, this article explores the images and p
 ractices behind the development of numeracy\, at the intersection of reaso
 ning and calculation\, in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Western 
 societies.
LOCATION:Seminar Room 2\, Newton Institute
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