Mathematical culture in Restoration England: the life and letters of John Collins

17世纪后半叶见证了英国数学科学的显著发展，最终于1687年出版了牛顿的《原理》。这一进步不仅反映在新成立的皇家学会上，也反映在会计、商业、航海和仪器制造等领域的实用数学水平日益提高上。新的数学学习渗透到车间、仓库、造船厂、咖啡馆和酒馆，并通过印刷书籍、期刊和信件传播。在复辟时期的英国，最杰出的数学交流促进者无疑是约翰·柯林斯（1625- 1683），他的主要目标是“促进数学学习”。尽管他很重要，但柯林斯在近代早期英国的知识和文化史上仍然占有很大的未被探索的地位。虽然他长期以来一直被认为是传播和促进年轻的艾萨克·牛顿工作的主要人物，但到目前为止，他在很大程度上逃脱了历史的审视。没有任何文章或书籍以他为主题。没有帐户的新兴数学文化在英格兰已考虑到他的贡献，实际学习和传播的算术。这一缺陷更令人遗憾，因为他的信件，不像其他当代资源，照亮了数学实践者和数学智能者的交叉世界。这个项目建议通过创建一个单卷本版本的柯林斯的信件结合深入的文章描述他的生活和工作，并将他置于更广泛的背景下十七世纪的英格兰，以弥补这一疏忽。这两个组成部分密不可分。对柯林斯的生活和信件进行全面的研究以前是不可能的，因为直到最近，大多数现存的信件都是不充分或根本没有的。另一个原因是这些信件在地理上的分散，它们被存放在联合王国的五个主要存放处;它们从来没有被作为一个整体进行过分类，事实上，其中大部分甚至没有得到令人满意的编目。只有将柯林斯的书信重新组合成一个完整的版本，并将它们置于其社会、文化和知识背景中，它们在一个重建的书信网络中的真正意义才会变得显而易见。他的通信版本将反过来使第一次全面研究柯林斯的生活和彻底评估他的智力遗产。以前的研究在数学史上只考虑柯林斯切线，而不是作为一个数字在他自己的权利。实际上，柯林斯在牛顿的学术传记和微积分发现的优先权之争中只不过是一个边缘人物。这种忽视的原因之一是科学史学家持续倾向于关注他们学科中的某些关键人物。但另一个同样重要的原因，在柯林斯的情况是，到目前为止，它还没有可能研究的丰富资源，他幸存的信件，在其全部。该项目将解决两个缺乏一个完整的现代版的柯林斯的信件和缺乏到现在为止的研究，他的生活，评估他的贡献，现代科学的增长在英格兰。此外，它将补充当代数学从业者和通信网络的历史研究，同时为正在进行的国际牛顿研究提供额外的源材料。

The second half of the seventeenth century witnessed a remarkable growth in the mathematical sciences in England, culminating in the publication of Newton's Principia in 1687. This progress was reflected not only in the newly established Royal Society, but also in an increasingly sophisticated level of practical mathematics in accountancy, commerce, navigation, and instrument making. New mathematical learning permeated workshops, warehouses, dockyards, coffee houses, and taverns, and was disseminated by means of printed books, journals, and letters. The most prominent facilitator of mathematical exchanges in Restoration England, and perceived as such by eminent contemporaries, was undoubtedly John Collins (1625-83), whose primary goal was 'the promotion of mathematick learning'.Notwithstanding his importance, Collins occupies a still largely unexplored place in the intellectual and cultural history of early modern England. Although he has long been recognized as a principal figure in disseminating and promoting the work of the young Isaac Newton, he has up to now largely escaped historical scrutiny. No articles or books have made him their subject. No account of the emerging mathematical culture in England has considered his contribution to practical learning and the spread of numeracy. This deficit is all the more regrettable, since his letters, like no other contemporary resources, illuminate the intersecting worlds of the mathematical practitioner and the mathematical intelligencer. This project proposes to remedy this oversight through the creation of a one-volume edition of Collins's correspondence combined with an in-depth essay describing his life and work, and situating him in the broader context of seventeenth-century England. These two components are inextricably bound together. A comprehensive study of Collins's life and letters has previously not been possible, because until very recently most of the extant letters have been available only inadequately or not at all. A further reason is the geographical dispersion of the correspondence, which is held in five major repositories across the United Kingdom; it has never been calendared as a whole and indeed much of it has not even been satisfactorily catalogued. Only by reuniting Collins's letters in a complete edition and by situating them in their social, cultural, and intellectual context will their true significance within a recreated epistolary network become apparent. The edition of his correspondence will in turn enable for the first time a comprehensive study of Collins's life and a thorough appraisal of his intellectual legacy.Previous research in the history of mathematics has considered Collins only tangentially and not as a figure in his own right. In effect, Collins has been no more than a marginal figure in the intellectual biography of Newton and in accounts of the priority dispute over the discovery of the calculus. One of the reasons for this neglect is a continuing tendency among science historians to focus on certain key established figures in their discipline. But another equally important reason in the case of Collins is the fact that up to now it has not been possible to study the rich resource of his surviving correspondence in its entirety. The project will address both the lack of a complete modern edition of Collins's letters and the absence up to now of a study of his life, assessing his contribution to the growth of modern science in England. Moreover, it will complement contemporary historical research on mathematical practitioners and correspondence networks, while delivering additional source material for ongoing international research on Newton.