Maths and Modern Science in Society

Don’t believe the hype: mathematics is not, in fact, everywhere. This supposedly universal, all-pervasive system of knowledge and methods has a history and sociology that puts mathematics quite specifically in its places and times. Looking at mathematics from the perspective of globalization, imperialism, teaching, and theoretical research, we will see how to understand mathematics as emphatically not everywhere. This opens up, in turn, new ways of interrogating why it does sometimes appear to be everywhere, and what is at stake in claims of universality.

Modern science was invented in the 17th century and has been popularised continuously ever since. This is evidence that laypeople have taken an active interest in scientific developments and popularisers have made prolific efforts to satisfy and stimulate that interest. It is also an indication that science has unique features making popularisation not contingent, but necessary. This talk will address the question of why science requires popularisation, using examples of notable popular science works published in Britain in the past few centuries.