Mathematics and war

Jens Hoyrup, Bernhelm Booss-Bavnbek

424 pages, parution le 16/10/2003

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Résumé

This book gives a broad picture of the increasingly intimate intercourse of the world of weapons with that of theorems. It shows to what extent the military has played an active part in the shaping of modern mathematics and the careers of mathematicians, in particular since World War II. It investigates how mathematical thinking, mathematical methods, and mathematically supported technology are now about to change the character and performance of modern warfare, and how this influences the public as well as the military. It describes the ethical choices of outstanding individuals like the physicist Niels Bohr and the mathematician Alan Turing in times of war and addresses the question to what extent general ethical discussions can provide guidance for working mathematicians. Finally, it analyzes the role of mathematical thinking in shaping the modern international law of war and peace and the role of mathematical arguments in support for actual conflict resolution.

The volume provides careful expositions of new perspectives on the interaction between mathematics and the military together with introductions to currently active areas of military and ethical thinking and to ongoing research in the recent history of mathematics. Material presented in the book may be used as a foundation for courses on social issues of mathematics and professional perspectives in the mathematics curriculum and for ethics classes in military education and political sciences.

Contributors : About 20 authors

Perspectives from Mathematics
- Military Work in Mathematics, 1914-1945
- The Brains Behind the Enigma Code Breaking Before World War
- On the Defence Work of A.N. Kolmogorov during World War II
- Improbable Warriors: Mathematicians Grace Hopper and Mina Rees in World War II
- New Mathematical Disciplines and Research in the Wake of World War II.
- Mathematics and War in Japan
- Discovery of the Maximum Principle in Control Theory
- Mickey Flies the Stealth
Perspectives from the Military
- War Cannot Be Calculated
- Warfare Can Be Calculated
- Duels of Systems and Forces
- On Facts and Fiction of "Information Warfare"
- More and Less Exposed Non-Combatants and Civilian Objects Under the Conditions of "Modern Warfare"
Ethical Issues
- Niels Bohr`s Political Crusade During World War II
- The Military Use of Alan Turing
- The Mathematician K. Ogura and the "Greater East Asia War"
- Working Within the System
- Ethics and Military Research
Enlightenment Perspectives
- Mathematical Thinking and the Law of War
- Calculated Security? Mathematical Modelling of Conflict and Cooperation

L'auteur - Bernhelm Booss-Bavnbek

Roskilde Universitetscenter.

Caractéristiques techniques

	PAPIER
Éditeur(s)	Birkhäuser
Auteur(s)	Jens Hoyrup, Bernhelm Booss-Bavnbek
Parution	16/10/2003
Nb. de pages	424
Format	17 x 24
Couverture	Broché
Poids	1005g
Intérieur	Noir et Blanc
EAN13	9783764316341