Geometry: The Third Book of Foundations

(Hardback)

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In this third installment of his classic 'Foundations' trilogy, Michel Serres takes on the history of geometry and mathematics. Even more broadly, Geometry is the beginnings of things and also how these beginnings have shaped how we continue to think philosophically and critically. Serres rejects a traditional history of mathematics which unfolds in a linear manner, and argues for the need to delve into the past of maths and identify a series of ruptures which can help shed light on how this discipline has developed and how, in turn, the way we think has been shaped and formed. This meticulous and lyrical translation marks the first ever English translation of this key text in the history of ideas.

Reviews

Michel Serres is one of the most original philosophers on our planet. Trained in mathematics and the philosophy of science, he straddles the divide between the two cultures of science and the humanities, and has developed a style of writing that eschews the usual trappings of academic prose. Geometry is ostensibly an analysis of the origins of geometry in ancient Greece, but in the process, it presents an entire philosophy of space and time, of the nature of science and knowledge, and even of their relations to politics and religion. This is Serres at his best: inventive, provocative, and profound. -- Daniel W. Smith, Professor of Philosophy, Purdue University, USA
This fine new translation of Michel Serres' third book of foundations, Geometry, shows him combining the concerns of his earlier work, on Lucretius and Leibniz, with the historical, mythological, and cultural themes prominent in the two previous books, Rome and Statues. Here he explores how innovation requires a return to a pre-history, before the installation of a current regime of inquiry, and he thus identifies multiple origins for geometry. For those new to his work, this text provides an excellent introduction to the sheer range and exhilaration of his thinking. For those already intrigued, if puzzled, it provides indispensable linkages and insights into the distinctive and inimitable logic of his inquiries, in which the notion of 'foundation' itself undergoes a surprising metamorphosis. -- Joanna Hodge, Professor of Philosophy, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK

Author Bio

Michel Serres is a Professor in the History of Science at Stanford University and a member of the Acadmie Franaise. A renowned and popular philosopher, he is a prize-winning author of essays and books, such as The Five Senses, Rome and Statues. Randolph Burks is a philosopher specializing in phenomenology and philosophies of the body and nature. He has translated several works by Michel Serres, including Biogea, Variations on the Body and The Hermaphrodite (forthcoming) and the other two titles in the 'Foundations' series.