Conflicts between generalization, rigor and intuition. Number concepts underlying the development of analysis in 17th--19th century France and Germany

Philosophy of mathematics (00A30) Research exposition (monographs, survey articles) pertaining to history and biography (01-02) History of mathematics in the 17th century (01A45) History of mathematics in the 18th century (01A50) History of mathematics in the 19th century (01A55) History of real functions (26-03)

Review text

Spanning more than 600 pages, the present book is a voluminous and detailed study of the conceptual developments of negative numbers and infinitesimals from the prehistory of the calculus to the end of the nineteenth century. As indicated in the title of the book, Schubring mainly focuses on discussions among French and German mathematicians about these issues. These were the centres of discussions of lasting impact, but Schubring does include digressions into discussions in other geographical regions, in particular in Britain. The book serves as an independent synthesis that also brings together earlier publications by the author. It stands out as special by treating many primary mathematical sources that are rarely subjected to historical study, such as the discussions about negative numbers by Antoine Arnauld and Jean Prestet. Most attention is, subsequently, put on contextualising the thoughts of Lazare Carnot on negative numbers (chapter V) and of A.-L. Cauchy on infinitesimals and limits (chapter VI). All the mathematical sources are discussed in the context of their mathematical content and the relation of the latter to the conceptual developments of analytical geometry and the differential calculus. However, Schubring wants to do a lot more, and he stresses this strongly in his methodological preface, namely also to study the sources in the context of their contemporary philosophical and general intellectual and social settings: ``It [Schubring's methodology] starts from the fact that the ``ideas or concepts of mathematics are objectified in written form, in \textit{texts}. Since no single text speaks directly for itself, since it will not immediately reveal its meaning upon inspection, a well-reflected method of interpreting texts is necessary for analyses into the history of mathematics (pp. 2--3). Schubring finds the answer to such challenges in a hermeneutic method that ``requires a broad interdisciplinary approach using contributions in particular of science research, sociology, and the science of history -- a method which corresponds to ``the social history of ideas (p. 5). ``The social history of ideas is in its essence culturally shaped; the first interaction of the system of mathematics with its environment occurs primarily in the field of culture (p. 6). As Schubring has already demonstrated in previous publications, questions of education and instruction are of great importance in studying the processes of professionalization and institutionalization. ``Textbooks are particularly suitable text types for such a program. Since they are directed to a broader public, they yield good indicators as to the intended conceptual horizon of a certain period and culture (p. 7). Thus, Schubring's main sources are precisely textbooks aimed at varying audiences and discussing the two themes of his book: negative numbers and infinitesimals. One very prominent example of the mentioned contextualisation in terms of general intellectual debates can be found in Schubring's treatment of the ``rise of the analytic method in France that he consistently and convincingly links to the French Revolution (pp. 279ff). Schubring describes how a group of philosophers identified as the \textit{Ideologues} promoted an ``analytical method in general. This coincided with the centralised organisation of teaching at all levels in the wake of the Revolution. Together, Schubring then argues, these two events had an influence on the teaching of mathematics and, in particular, how infinitesimals were treated. In fact, the teaching of `analysis' at the leading French institution of mathematics education, the \textit{Ecole polytechnique}, was changed so that it became based on limits rather than infinitesimals. However, due to subsequent political and philosophical turbulence, a decree of 1811 required a return to infinitesimals. The teachers of mathematics, most notably Cauchy, reluctantly implemented the infinitesimals as a ``compromise approach to analysis in which the concept of infinitesimal was based on that of limits. This was epitomised, e.g., in Cauchy's \textit{Cours d'analyse} where limits and infinitesimals were presented side-by-side without giving up limits as the basic conception for treating the infinitely small. Out of the two themes of the book, the history of negative numbers and infinitesimals, the latter is the one presented best. Throughout the book, Schubring comments upon the secondary literature treating his two subjects. Most often, this takes place in the footnotes. However, in the case involving non-standard analysis, he has made his discussions of various interpretations an integrated part of the running text and the historical argument. Continuing his arguments for Cauchy's ``compromise approach, Schubring enters into the debate over the historiographical implications of applying non-standard analysis in historical arguments. Since the 1950s, some scholars have used non-standard analysis in order to interpret how mathematicians thought about infinitesimals in the 1820s. Schubring dismisses these interpretations, and his dismissal is, today, shared by many historians of mathematics. However, Schubring brings about a new perspective by explaining the otherwise troublesome dual conception of infinitesimals by external motivations. The book is structured largely chronologically, treating its two themes in alternating chapters. Perhaps as a consequence, and to a large extent also as the result of the size of the work and the relatively few meta-textual comments to help guide the reader, the book is difficult to manoeuvre. Its many detailed analyses and paraphrases of arguments often lead Schubring to so-called ``conspicuous observations that would have merited more extensive explanation. The feeling of disorientation is furthered by the often complicated language including many Germanisms and expressions that are not idiomatic in English, as well as a number of misprints and typographical inconsistencies. The book would have greatly benefitted from a subject index that would have enabled the lookup of many of the important tangential observations, particular on institutions and contexts, that appear in different places throughout the book. The bibliography is initially difficult to master as it does not explicitly show the precise referring strings used in the main text. In conclusion, this volume presents an important new contextualised perspective on the history of negative numbers and infinitesimals. It includes a rich variety of institutional and philosophical discussions relevant to this development. Schubring has synthesised many facets of historical discussions and has included a great number of infrequently consulted primary sources. However, the result is often lacking in structure and focus and is, therefore regrettably, difficult to read.

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