Mathematics

A 1940 Letter of André Weil [to Simone Weil] on Analogy in Mathematics

Andre Weil read

Notices of the American Mathematical Society, vol. 52, no. 3, 334-341

Weaving the World: Simone Weil on Science, Mathematics, and Love

Vance Morgan read

Weaving the World uses Simone Weil’s philosophy of science and mathematics as an introduction to the thought of one of the most powerful philosophical and theological minds of the twentieth century. Weil held that, for the ancient Greeks, the ultimate purpose of science and mathematics was the knowledge and love of the divine. Her creative assimilation of this vision led her to a conception of science and mathematics that connects the human person with not only the physical world but also the spiritual and aesthetic aspects of human existence. Vance G. Morgan investigates Weil’s earliest texts on science, in which she lays the foundation for a conception of science rooted in basic human concerns and activities. He then tracks Weil’s analysis of the development of science, particularly of the mathematics and science of the ancient Greeks.

Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2005

Simone Weil and the Divine Poetry of Mathematics

Vance Morgan

in Doering, E. Jane & Springsted, Eric, eds, The Christian Platonism of Simone Weil, Notre Dame: IN: University of Notre Dame Press, pp. 61-76

The Apprenticeship of a Mathematician

Andre Weil read
  • Publisher (UK: Birkhauser, 1991) ( Jennifer Gage, translator) (pp., 197)

“Extremely readable recollections of the author… A rare testimony of a period of the history of 20th century mathematics. Includes very interesting recollections on the author’s participation in the formation of the Bourbaki Group, tells of his meetings and conversations with leading mathematicians, reflects his views on mathematics. The book describes an extraordinary career of an exceptional man and mathematicians. Strongly recommended to specialists as well as to the general public.”

EMS Newsletter (1992)

“This excellent book is the English edition of the author’s autobiography. … This very enjoyable reading is recommended to all mathematicians.”
Acta Scientiarum Mathematicarum (1992)

Against Algebra: Simone Weil’s Critique of Modern Science and Its Mathematics

J.G. Calder

Explorations in Knowledge, vol. 4, pp. 47-73