Research

Research Priorities: History of Chinese science, history of mathematics, Georg Cantor, Charles S. Peirce and Abraham Robinson, history of Soviet and Russian science

Joseph W. Dauben is a US-American historian of science and mathematics. Key areas of his research are the mathematicians Georg Cantor, Charles S. Peirce and Abraham Robinson, as well as the history of Chinese science.

Dauben wrote the first biography of the American mathematician Abraham Robinson, one of the 20th century’s most important mathematicians. Joseph W. Dauben’s book links Robinson’s life – as a Jew, Robinson had to flee Europe – to his achievements in pure and applied mathematics. In his work on the German mathematician Georg Cantor, Joseph W. Dauben also showed the influence that life experiences and illness can have on the research of individual academics. His work has also examined the intellectual and social development of mathematics.

Furthermore, Dauben is a renowned expert in the history of Chinese science and has held various teaching and research positions in China and Taiwan. Many of his works have been translated into Chinese.

Career

• 2005 Zhu Kezhen Visiting Professor, Institute for the History of Natural Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
• 2002 Honorary Professor, Institute for the History of Natural Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
• 1995 Visiting Professor, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan
• 1991 Visiting Professor, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
• 1989-1993 Visiting Professor, New York University (NYU), New York City, USA
• 1985 Research Stay, USSR
• 1982-1985 Visiting Professor, Columbia University, New York City, USA
• since 1981 Distinguished Professor of History, Lehman College, City University of New York (CUNY), New York City, USA
• 1980 Visiting Professor, Oberlin College, Oberlin, USA
• 1979-1980 Visiting Professor, Columbia University, New York City, USA
• 1977-1978 Member, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton University, Princeton, USA
• 1972-1977 Assistant Professor, Lehman College, CUNY, USA
• 1966-1972 Degree in the History of Science and Doctorate, Harvard University, Cambridge, USA
• 1962-1966 Degree in Mathematics and English Literature, Claremont McKenna College, Claremont, USA

Functions

• 1997-1999 Chairperson, Section Philosophy of Science and History, New York Academy of Sciences, New York City, USA
• 1985-1994 Chairperson, Executive Committee, International Commission for the History of Mathematics (ICHM)
• 1977-1985 Editor, Historica Mathematica, ICHM
• Member, Clare Hall, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

Honours and Memberships

• 2012 Albert Leon Whiteman Memorial Prize, American Mathematical Society (AMS), USA
• since 2002 Honorary Member, Institute for the History of Natural Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
• since 2001 Member, German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, Germany
• 1998-2000 Outstanding Research Award, Lehman College Foundation, Lehman College, CUNY, New York City, USA
• 1998-1999 Senior Fellowship, American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS), USA
• 1998 Invited Speaker, International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM), Berlin, Germany
• since 1991 Elected Member, International Academy of the History of Science
• 1986 Outstanding Teacher of the Year, Lehman College, CUNY, New York City, USA
• since 1982 Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science, USA
• since 1982 Fellow, New York Academy of Sciences, New York City, USA
• 1980 Guggenheim Fellowship, John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, New York City, USA