My current academic interests include the critical history and sociology of mathematical proofs and rigor. This has taken me, in recent projects, to Augustin Cauchy's early 19th century Course in Analysis, the first English translators of Euclid's Elements (1551-1571), and the pyramidology of the nineteenth century astronomer Charles Piazzi Smyth. I am particularly interested in developing a notion of mathematical witnessing drawn from the extensive body of work on witnessing in science and literature.
I'm currently an MPhil candidate in History and Philosophy of Science at St. John's College, University of Cambridge. My undergraduate work was in Mathematics and the History, Sociology, and Philosophy thereof at Cornell University. I'm studying in the UK in my first of two years under a Marshall Scholarship. My hobbies include knitting and selecting high school juniors for strange summer programs. Here's a short CV. The best way to reach me is by e-mail at either mjb245 (the usual symbol) cornell.edu or mjb236 (same symbol) cam.ac.uk, although I'm told the latter address will stop working as soon as I graduate.
Last significant site update: 28 April, 2009.