Axiomatic Collaborations in the Foundations of Geometry at the University of Chicago, 1900-1905

This lecture from the Orange County Inland Empire (OCIE) Seminar series in History and Philosophy of Mathematics features Professor Jemma Lorenat from Pitzer College exploring axiomatic collaborations in the foundations of geometry at the University of Chicago between 1900-1905. Delve into Oswald Veblen's archival notes from E.H. Moore's 1901 seminar on geometric foundations, which proved highly influential for both mathematicians and the development of postulate systems in twentieth-century American mathematics. Through detailed analysis of these notes alongside later publications, discover how American scholars reworked and adapted modern European mathematics, with particular focus on graphic notation and the concepts of independence and categoricity in Veblen's Notebook. The research presented is conducted jointly with Nicolas Michel (Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences, University of Cambridge) and Emmylou Haffner (Institut des Textes et Manuscrits Modernes, CNRS).