A new History of Math and Physics Program will offer rising Seniors the opportunity to study and research developments in mathematics and physics across the last 2,500 years, including the origin of key concepts in those fields.
Introduced last year by Dr. Jeff Blevins, director of academic research programs and instructor in English, it will join the MacLeish and Hersey Scholars programs as signature offerings of the school.
The program, led by Mr. Alex Ginzburg, instructor in mathematics, will begin with a two-week summer session at Cornell University. Guided by a Cornell PhD student, scholars will conduct research in the university’s renowned library archives. They will also have opportunities to explore Ithaca and will stay in Cornell’s dormitories.
Dr. Blevins said, “Cornell has unique resources in this field. Their mathematics library collects hundreds of thousands of memoirs every year related to math and science, from children’s books to technical textbooks by Nobel-prize winners. They have one of the world’s rarest manuscript collections in math and science. Students will have access to famous authors’ ideas—everything from their published work to their letters and notes.”
In the second semester of the following academic year, scholars will enroll in “Further Math: Theories from Euclid to Einstein,” which will introduce them to thinkers from Ancient Greece to the 20th century and allow them to dive more deeply into their summer research topics.
Mr. Ginzburg said, “The main goal of the class is to show how math and physics have developed over time and how they have influenced one another. We will examine the social environment and conditions under which these thinkers did their work and how these societal factors may have benefited or hindered their research.” Each student will produce a final project: a scientific paper on their chosen mathematician or scientist.
Dr. Blevins has been working to develop the school’s signature independent research capstone initiatives since becoming director of academic research programs last year. He said, “We have two more exciting programs that will be running next year: Matthiessen, an environmental science program to be based at Yale, and an art history program that will be set at Princeton. This means there will be nearly fifty students able to enroll in one of the school’s research programs next year.”
Upper Mids who are interested in the new program are encouraged to attend up-coming information sessions. The application deadline is February 1.
