I was away when HM people discussed the presumed contempt some
mathematicians have for the history of mathematics. Since the topic is of
rather general interest, I take the liberty of setting down a few remarks
and must leave it to you to decide if there is anything in these remarks
that has not been said by others.
I have known many mathematicians, ranging from mediocre to sublime. Some
in the latter category are: my "Doktorvater" Magnus, Courant, Bers, Fritz
John, Nirenberg, and Lax. I got to know these people when I was a graduate
student at NYU in the early 1950s. All of them had, or have since
acquired, a profound knowledge of, and a high regard for, the _essential
part_ of the history of mathematics, namely, the ideas of mathematics,
their significance, and their evolution. I would be greatly surprised to
learn that mathematicians of their level of competence had contempt for
what I have just referred to as the essential part of the history of
mathematics. On the other hand, I have known mathematicians who combined
considerable mathematical skills with what can only be described as
intellectual obtuseness and ignorance of the world of mathematical ideas
beyond their small mathematical bailiwicks. The best comment on this
depressing state of affairs is Heine's line: "O Gott, wie gross ist dein
Tiergarten!"
Let me conclude with an illustration of the dangers due to ignorance of
specific facts relating, in this case, to the social history of mathematics.
A recent review (by Bonnie Shulman in MAA Online) of vol.1 of Dirk van
Dalen's "Life of L.E.J. Brouwer" quotes van Dalen as saying that "Brouwer
was a high-strung nervous person... . On top of that he had an extreme
passion for justice; as Bieberbach put it: he was a justice fanatic..."
O tempora! O mores! The Nazi racist editor of "Deutsche Mathematik" as
the arbiter in matters of justice! What next?
Abe Shenitzer