Prof Isobel Falconer

Prof Isobel Falconer

Professor

Phone
+44 (0)1334 46 3743
Email
ijf3@st-andrews.ac.uk
Office
119 MI
Location
Mathematical Institute

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Teaching

I am module coordinator for MT4501 Topics in the History of Mathematics and MT2901 Mathematical Concepts Through History (part of the Combined Studies Programme). I developed and supervised the VIP (vertically integrated project) for two years; it is now being taken forward by Charles Paxton. I supervise honours projects in the history of mathematics on a wide variety of topics. I am committed to fostering research-teaching linkages and supervise around half a dozen summer project students for whom funding is available. Two current projects are:

Former projects have included "",Ìý conducted by Farah Victoria Wallauer, a Royal Astronomical Society-funded summer scholar, and an honours project by Amie Morrison which has recently been published.

I am a experienced supervisor at Masters and PhD level

Research areas

Personal website (for lots more detail, and preprints of some papers not available below):

I am interested in the relations between maths and physics in the nineteenth century, and the interaction of both with the cultural context. I recently led a collaborative project with the University of Bonn on how we came to believe in a . I’ve recently been exploring some of Maxwell and Kelvin's work as . Another current project examines the ‘career’ opportunities provided by in the early modern period.

I lead the , funded by the Isaac Newton Institute. The network brings together mathematics lecturers who are interested in exploring how history of mathematics may be used to promote inclusivity in mathematics teaching at university level.

I support work on the developed by my colleagues Edmund Robertson and John O’Connor. In 2019-20 I led an EPSRC-funded project to migrate MacTutor to a new, sustainable and more robust platform, and in 2022 for a further project to develop a team editing interface that will enable MacTutor to broaden its group of contributors, bringing in expertise in other areas of mathematics/statistics/astronomy and in international perspectives. I have also promoted the growth of MacTutor’s coverage of female and non-Western mathematicians, especially the inclusion of details of

I am an experienced supervisor at Masters and PhD level: recently I have been supervising projects in 17th/18th century Scottish mathematics, and on the way the natural historian D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson drew on his networks of mathematicians and historians in furthering his work.

I am an executive committee member of the , elected by the . I was a Council member of the and am now Editor of its journal, the . I was appointed an MBE by Her Majesty the Queen in the Queen's Birthday Honours list in June 2022 for services to the history of mathematics and science.

I taught part time for the UK Open University for over 30 years. For 8 years I juggled teaching and history of mathematics research with educational research into open educational resources.

PhD supervision

  • KateÌýHindle
  • VictoriaÌýZwierzyk-Teles

Selected publications

  • Open access
    Falconer, I. J., Nov 2019, In: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. A, Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences . 377, 2158, 15 p., 20180451.

    Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

  • Open access
    Falconer, I., 2 Dec 2017, In: Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A. 65-66, p. 74-86 13 p.

    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

  • Falconer, I. J., 2002, Histories of the Electron. Buchwald, J. & Warwick, A. (eds.). Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, p. 77-100 24 p.

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter

  • Open access
    Morrison, A. & Falconer, I. J., 2022, In: British Journal for the History of Mathematics. 37, 1, p. 2-23 22 p.

    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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