MacTyutor Mathematics History Archive

MacTutor History of Mathematics archive is a website that contains biographies of many mathematicians (both dead and living), as well as information on the history of mathematics . The archive is located on the website of the University of St Andrews in Scotland and is maintained by John O'Connor and Edmund Robertson ^[1] .

The base of biographies of mathematicians allows you to search by alphabetical and chronological indexes. As of March 1997, the database contained 1162 biographies and 626 portraits ^[2] . The chronological index is divided into 29 groups (according to 2003 data ) and includes a time interval from the Egyptian papyrus Ahmes to mathematicians born after 1940 and now living, including about 76 female mathematicians. Each article (as far as possible) contains basic information about the person, including dates of birth and death, portrait, detailed biography and major achievements. The bibliographic list, articles on the work of this mathematician, additional links ^{[1] are} also attached to the article. Pages with biographies almost do not contain graphics ^[2] .

Information on the history of mathematics is located in a separate index ( History Topics Index ), which includes the history of mathematics in various cultures and the history of various sections of mathematics. In 2003, sections were presented on the history of mathematics in Babylon , Egypt , Greece , India , the Arab world , America, Scotland, as well as mathematics of the Incas and Mayans. Among the various branches of mathematics, the index presents algebra , analysis , geometry and topology , numbers and number theory , mathematical physics , mathematical astronomy , mathematical education and their subsections ^[1] . In addition, an essay on the history of mathematics examines the political issues and conflicts associated with scientific research ^[2] .

The Mathematics History Archive is part of the Mathematical MacTutor System ^[1] . The system works only on Apple computers and includes more than 100 HyperCards and about 2000 cards. It is used in many universities and schools in the UK and other countries and has received a number of awards, including the prize for the best mathematical software from the European Academic Software Awards in 1994 ^[3] .