[FOM] Proof in mathematics

[catarina dutilh]

On 07/08/2010 09:35 AM, Steve Stevenson wrote:
> Question 1 occurred to me in a different context: what is the history
> of mathematical proof vis-a-vis the form of an argument in classical
> rhetoric?

> My question is, "What is the history of development of the two
> subjects?" More to the point, are they contemporaneous?


On the historical development of the deductive method of proof in ancient Greek 
mathematics, I highly recommend Raviel Netz's "The Shaping of Deduction" (1999, 
CUP).

http://books.google.nl/books?id=VwggGX0ORLkC&printsec=frontcover&dq=shaping+of+deduction&source=bl&ots=O3otr_jJ9x&sig=6cw2EYUL8wbfqGUYUY46ggvwRHg&hl=nl&ei=mtM4TKPxHKGgOO_Y_IkK&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CDQQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q&f=false



According to Netz, the development of the deductive method can only be 
understood in the context of a society profoundly marked by the tradition of 
*public debates*. But at the same time, it developed as a *reaction* to other 
forms of argumentation at the time. (See in particular Chap. 7.) Netz was a 
student of G. Lloyd, who also has very significant work on the history of 
mathematics.

regards,

Catarina