Gert Schubring – författare

This is the first comprehensive International Handbook on the History of Mathematics Education, covering a wide spectrum of epochs and civilizations, countries and cultures. Until now, much of the research into the rich and varied history of mathematics education has remained inaccessible to the vast majority of scholars, not least because it has been written in the language, and for readers, of an individual country. And yet a historical overview, however brief, has become an indispensable element of nearly every dissertation and scholarly article. This handbook provides, for the first time, a comprehensive and systematic aid for researchers around the world in finding the information they need about historical developments in mathematics education, not only in their own countries, but globally as well. 

Although written primarily for mathematics educators, this handbook will also be of interest to researchers of the history of education in general, as well as specialists incultural and even social history. 

This contributed volume investigates the active role of the different contexts of mathematics teaching on the evolution of the practices of mathematical concepts, with particular focus on their foundations. The book aims to deconstruct the strong and generally wide-held conviction that research in mathematics constitutes the only driving force for any progress in the development of mathematics as a field. In compelling and convincing contrast, these chapters aim to show the productive function of teaching, showcasing investigations from countries and regions throughout various eras, from Old Babylonia through the 20th Century. In so doing, they provide a critical reflection on the foundations of mathematics, as well as instigate new research questions, and  explore the interfaces between teaching and research.

Dieses Buch ist konzipiert für angehende und praktizierende Mathematiklehrer; es richtet sich aber auch generell an Studierende der Mathematik. Ebenso wird es einem an Mathematik interessierten Leser neue Zugänge zur Mathematik eröffnen.Kenntnisse in Geschichte der Mathematik werden stets wichtiger als Bestandteil der Mathematiklehrer-Ausbildung: zur Vertiefung des Begriffs-Verständnisses und aufgrund der in der Mathematik-Didaktik international stets stärker empfohlenen Einbeziehung der Mathematik-Geschichte in den Mathematikunterricht – um durch die Vorzüge einer „genetischen“ Methodik die Begriffsentwicklung bei den Schülern effektiver gestalten zu können. Das Buch will zur Ausbildung von „Metawissen“ beitragen – von Wissen über das Fachwissen. Anstatt der häufigen Reduktion der Mathematik-Geschichte in Lehrbüchern auf anekdotische Informationen oder der Beschränkung auf wenige, als ‚große‘ präsentierte Mathematiker und auf ideengeschichtliche Entwicklungen eröffnet das Buch, auf dem aktuellen Stand der historischen Forschung, neue Zugänge zum Verständnis der Begriffs-Entwicklungen durch deren Darstellung in ihren kulturellen und sozialen Kontexten. Zudem leitet das Buch dazu an, traditionelle historische Berichte aufgrund neuerer Methodologien kritisch zu hinterfragen.Den meisten Kapiteln sind Aufgaben hinzugefügt, teils zur Vertiefung der Themen des Kapitels, teils als Anregung zur eigenen Praxis, um sie etwa selbst im Unterricht einzusetzen.

This book is about the creation and production of textbooks for learning and teaching mathematics. It covers a period from Antiquity to Modern Times. The analysis begins by assessing principal cultures with a practice of mathematics. The tension between the role of the teacher and his oral mode, on the one hand, and the use of a written (printed) text, in their respective relation with the student, is one of the dimensions of the comparative analysis, conceived of as the ‘textbook triangle’. The changes in this tension with the introduction of the printing press are discussed. The book presents various national case studies (France, Germany, Italy) as well as analyses of the internationalisation of textbooks via transmission processes. 

As this topic has not been sufficiently explored in the literature, it will be very well received by scholars of mathematics education, mathematics teacher educators and anyone with an interest in the field.