History, Mathematics, and the Public

Applications open for 2024-2025

Please submit this form to apply to this project for 2024-2025.

‘History, Mathematics, and the Public’ (HMP) is a public history project that explores effective and sustainable options for engaging the public with the history of mathematics. History of mathematics brings together the expertise of historians, mathematicians and others, often working in close collaboration. It can draw the public in to aspects of history that seldom get addressed - for example navigation or weather forecasting - and of humanising mathematics, a subject that can otherwise seem dauntingly abstract to many people.

Numeracy pre-dates literacy and mathematics has shaped, and been shaped by, societies all over the world for at least 6000 years and arguably over 20,000. Current concerns are developing a global history of maths, including an understanding of the place of Scottish mathematics in such a global history.

This academic year (2024 – 2025), the VIP project will specialise in one area, the role of mathematics in fishery science. Fishery science was one of the first fields of ecology to become quite mathematical in the early 20th century perhaps because it is difficult to count the fish in the sea. N.B. “fishery science” in this context could include the science underpinning whaling as whales were regarded as an exploitable resource just like for most of the 19^th and 20^th centuries.

Activities could include

public engagement about the mathematical history of fishery science possibly with some local flavour (see below)
researching the history of mathematics and statistics in fishery science and its connections to St Andrews and other local universities and institutions (most especially in Dundee and Edinburgh) through documentary and image sources, material objects, or oral history.
explorations of why fishery science went mathematical so early, what expertise it drew on, and the background of the early mathematical fishery scientists.

Each semester, the team will agree the focus of activity for that semester and work together to develop materials, implement activities, and evaluate their success. Some team members may lead on research, locating sources and images, and interpreting both the mathematical and contextual elements for the public. Other team members may explore how best to engage the public and develop evaluation plans. This could include the development of both digital and non-digital public engagement packages. HMP provides opportunities for all students to gain teamwork skills.

Students from any discipline are welcome to apply. However only a maximum of 10 places are available per semester.

HMP will suit students with an interest in public history, history of science or maths/science communication. This might be through the power of storytelling in a variety of different media, or through interactive activities (virtual or in person). Further expertise, often found in the Schools of Computer Science, Management, or International Relations, will be useful for exploring how best to present to public audiences, promoting the project, and ensuring that it is sustainable. Language students can make a valuable contribution to developing a global perspective, especially through discovery and interpretation of non-English sources.

This year, given the subject material, we are especially keen to hear from students in:
- History
- Mathematics and Statistics
- Biology
- Modern languages
Students working on this project will use the following methods and technologies:

Research – locating, documenting and interpreting sources, producing summaries for the rest of the team and first drafts of written outputs or scripts for podcasts or videos

Translation – discovering and translating non-English sources

Editing – editing content produced by researchers, checking for style, accuracy, and consistency of format; guiding the overall shape and balance of content

Digital development – developing and packaging project content into appropriate digital formats, adding it to, and developing appropriate databases

Publicity – developing and implementing a plan to publicise the project and engage the public with it

Evaluation – of the effectiveness of outputs and other activities

Project management – organising weekly team meetings, allocating tasks, keeping track of progress.
This project will be assessed through the following coursework:
- Weekly log, 20%
- Individual public history report and work plan, end of week 3, 20%
- Individual portfolio of contributions to the project, end of semester, 30%
- Individual commentary on the portfolio, end of semester, 30%

History, Mathematics, and the Public

Applications open for 2024-2025

Candidate eligibility

Methods and technologies

Assessment