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The mathematician is entirely free, within the limits of his imagination, to construct what worlds he pleases. What he is to imagine is a matter for his own caprice; he is not thereby discovering the fundamental principles of the universe nor becoming acquainted with the ideas of God. If he can find, in experience, sets of entities which obey the same logical scheme as his mathematical entities, then he has applied his mathematics to the external world; he has created a branch of science.
Aspects of Science, 1925.
Loci: Convergence
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HOM SIGMAA 2009 Award Winners
HOM-SIGMAA, the History of Mathematics Special Interest Group of the MAA, conducts an annual writing contest for undergraduate students in the history of mathematics. The winning papers for 2009 are as follows:
1st place: Nathan McLaughlin of the University of Montana
"The Mathematical Optics of Sir William Hamilton: Conical Refraction and Quaternions"
2nd place: Tim Chalberg of Pacific Lutheran University
"Regression Analysis: A Powerful Tool and Riveting Drama"
Honorable Mention: Amy Buchmann of Chapman University
"A Brief History of Quaternions and the Theory of Holomorphic Functions of Quaternionic Variables"
The papers may be downloaded by clicking on their titles. HOM-SIGMAA congratulates the winners.