Euclid vs. the Indivisible: The Mathematical Battle over the Shape of Modernity

Euclid vs. the Indivisible: The Mathematical Battle over the Shape of Modernity

Audio recording of a lecture given by Amir Alexander on February 21, 2025 as part of the Dean’s Lecture & Concert Series. The Dean’s Office has provided this description of the event: “On August 10, 1632, the Revisors General of the Society of Jesus met in Rome to pronounce on a simple question: Whether a straight line is composed of an infinite number of distinct points. The proposition seemed trivial, but their decision proved momentous, launching a decades-long battle between two competing visions of mathematics, and of truth. On the one side were the champions of inviolable hierarchy and unchallengeable order; on the other, the advocates of increased pragmatism and tolerance. The battleground was the infinitely small. At stake was the face of modernity, then coming into being.”

Santa Fe, NM

2025-02-21

Meem Library has been given permission to make this item available online.

sound

mp3

English

SF_AlexanderA_Euclid_vs._the_Indivisible_2025-02-21

M4A

00:59:44