The history of symmetry and the asymmetry of history

Abstract

This talk, delivered as the keynote lecture to BSHM Research in Progress 2008, is about the excitement to be had from studying history of mathematics. It discusses some of the challenges that arise from the fact that mathematics is a seriously technical subject. They are illustrated with episodes from the history of the mathematical theory of symmetry. In particular, it focuses attention on the nineteenth century, where the mathematics requires degree-level training, while the history requires linguistic and scholarly sensitivities rarely provided by university mathematics courses.