Who were these mathematicians?

Abstract

In the past, many publications have dealt with the question “What is mathematics?” Indeed, Reuben Hersh (1998) produced a delightful book that he called What is Mathematics, Really? However, there have been few investigations into “Who is a mathematician?” other than someone who does mathematics. (In her book Women Becoming Mathematicians, Margaret Murray (2001: Chapter 7) responds to the question: What does it mean to be a mathematician?) I hope that this chapter will help to address the lack and provide some surprises along the way. In particular, I challenge the stereotype of the mathematician who shows aptitude from a very early age and who comes from a mathematically ‘connected’ background, neither of which is supported in the literature nor in my study.

I drew arrows in different colours to follow the path of her lover’s mathematics, and hers. I used single lines for her, and double lines for his. I used all the colours of the spectrum. Slowly the sad empty room became as bright as a rainbow. It was like drawing two different journeys across a map, her journey and his. It took the rest of my adolescence. And though I joined up many arguments, by the time I’d left school, I could see how different two journeys could be. (Woolfe, 1996: 282)