Helmuth Malonek
Contributions to the history of mathematics in Portugal
Our research on the History of Mathematics in Portugal is a contribution to the work of the autonomous section "Seminário Nacional de História da Matemática" (SNHM) of the "Sociedade Portuguesa de Matemática" (SPM). The international interest in the development of Mathematics in Portugal as a peripheral European country with its specific cultural heritage during the last five centuries turns out to be much higher than expected. For this reason, supported by the collaboration with highly recognized foreign specialists in this field from France, Russia and Germany, in the recent past we concentrated our research on the investigation of the life, mathematical work and scientific influence of some prominent historical figures from different epochs. Among them are the main representatives of the Portuguese arithmaticians (16th century), Francisco Gomes Teixeira (19th/20th centuries) and José Vicente Gonçalves (20th century).
The particular results that we present range from new insights into the commercial arithmetic used in the 15th and 16th century on the Iberian Peninsula, to the reasons for Gomes Teixeira's extraordinary recognition as mathematician by the international mathematical community and the analysis of sources enlightening the contacts of José Vicente Gonçalves' with O. Perron and K. Knopp, as well as his writings about D. Francisco de Melo.
The particular results that we present range from new insights into the commercial arithmetic used in the 15th and 16th century on the Iberian Peninsula, to the reasons for Gomes Teixeira's extraordinary recognition as mathematician by the international mathematical community and the analysis of sources enlightening the contacts of José Vicente Gonçalves' with O. Perron and K. Knopp, as well as his writings about D. Francisco de Melo.
