During the last few decades historians of science have shown a growing
interest in science as a cultural activity and have regarded science
more and more as part of the gene- ral developments that have occurred
in society. This trend has been less evident arnong historians of
mathematics, who traditionally concentrate primarily on tracing the
develop- ment of mathematical knowledge itself. To some degree this
restriction is connected with the special role of mathematics compared
with the other sciences; mathematics typifies the most objective, most
coercive type of knowledge, and there- fore seems to be least affected
by social influences. Nevertheless, biography, institutional history and
his- tory of national developments have long been elements in the
historiography of mathematics. This interest in the social aspects of
mathematics has widened recently through the stu- dy of other themes,
such as the relation of mathematics to the development of the
educational system. Some scholars have begun to apply the methods of
historical sociology of knowledge to mathematics; others have attempted
to give a ix x Marxist analysis of the connection between mathematics
and productive forces, and there have been philosophical studies about
the communication processes involved in the production of mathematical
knowledge. An interest in causal analyses of historical processes has
led to the study of other factors influencing the development of
mathematics, such as the f- mation of mathematical schools, the changes
in the profes- onal situation of the mathematician and the general
cultural milieu of the mathematical scientist.
