Leo Corry – författare

The book tells the unique story of WEIZAC, an early computer built by a “new nation” in the early 1950s. It was created in Israel, even though the feasibility of this project was actually close to null when it was initially conceived, in 1946, and, unlike most of the early computer projects, was privately financed mainly by the Jewish world community. The book draws on a wealth of documents and historical insights to reveal the processes and powers that led to the successful completion of the project and, as well as its actual impact on scientific activities in Israel, and on the rise of a local computing community.

This book provides a fresh view on an important and largely overlooked aspect of the Euclidean traditions in the medieval mathematical texts, particularly concerning the interrelations between geometry and arithmetic, and the rise  of algebraic modes of thought. It appeals to anyone interested in the history of mathematics in general and in history of medieval and early modern science.

This book discusses the changing conceptions about the relationship between geometry and arithmetic within the Euclidean tradition that developed in the British context of the sixteenth and seventeenth century. Its focus is on Book II of the Elements and the ways in which algebraic symbolism and methods, especially as recently introduced by François Viète and his followers, took center stage as mediators between the two realms, and thus offered new avenues to work out that relationship in idiosyncratic ways not found in earlier editions of the Euclidean text.

This book offers a completely new perspective of the topic and analyzes mostly unexplored material. It will be of interest to historians of mathematics, mathematicians with an interest in history and historians of renaissance science in general.

This book describes the groundbreaking work of Chaim Leib Pekeris and his collaborators. Between 1955 and 1963 they used the first electronic computer built in Israel, the Weizmann Automatic Computer (WEIZAC), to develop powerful numerical methods that helped achieve new and accurate solutions of the Boltzmann equation, calculate energy levels of the helium atom, produce detailed geophysical and seismological models derived from the study of the free oscillations of the earth, and refine models used to predict meteorological phenomena and global oceanic tides. This book provides a unique account of the pioneering work of Chaim L. Pekeris in applied mathematics and explains in detail the background to the rise of the Weizmann Institute as a world-class center of scientific excellence. This hitherto untold story is of great interest to historians of twentieth-century science with special emphasis on the application of computer-assisted numerical methods in various branches of mathematical physics.

This book offers a journey into the history of pioneering Israeli women in electronic computing and explores the impact these women had on the annals of Israeli computing history. With the primary setting being the Weizmann Institute of Science, where the genesis of computing in Israel took place, their stories come to life through the lens of personal narratives, and their personal stories provide a unique window into their experiences, challenges, and triumphs. It delves into a compelling narrative of women who defied societal norms and forged their path in a male-dominated field. Their accounts captivate individuals who are passionate about advocating for gender equality and empowerment, as well as those with an interest in the history of computing and the development of information technology in Israel. 

The book describes two stages in the historical development of the notion of mathematical structures: first, it traces its rise in the context of algebra from the mid-nineteenth century to its consolidation by 1930, and then it considers several attempts to formulate elaborate theories after 1930 aimed at elucidating, from a purely mathematical perspective, the precise meaning of this idea.

First published in the series Science Networks Historical Studies, Vol. 17 (1996).

In the second rev. edition the author has eliminated misprints, revised the chapter on Richard Dedekind, and updated the bibliographical index.