Mathematics Colloquium - Marriage and Mathematics – A perfect matching?

Speaker: Brigitte Stenhouse (Open University)

Abstract: It is incredibly common when reading about a historical mathematician to briefly meet “his wife”. His wife is often introduced with a first name – a maiden name is provided slightly less frequently – and perhaps an acknowledgement that she contributed to his work, or even had interests of her own for which she achieved recognition. More recent scholarship has taken his wife – or his sister, aunt, or daughter – as the focus of inquiry, attempting to tease out the story of a woman for whom the record of her mathematical contributions has been muddled up in the archival collections and historical narrative of her more famous and visible male relative.

However, rather than just a vehicle for reclaiming the contributions of individual women, in this talk I will present an ongoing project that aims to showcase the deeper understanding of mathematical communities to be gained by looking at marriage more broadly. One’s spouse can have a huge effect on financial capital, allowing the purchase of books, equipment, or society memberships. For the latter, the necessary social capital to access such mathematical spaces might be provided by a prudent marriage. For much of history, mathematical work took place at home where a spouse was well-placed to take an active role in discussions, debates, experiments, or the writing up of new knowledge to be shared with a wider audience. In some instances, marriage and socialising in mixed-gender spaces were significant ways to build and sustain mathematical communities from which research schools and agendas emerged. Considering the role of marriage in how mathematicians accessed knowledge, communities, and gained recognition for their work opens up space to consider how domesticity and mathematical work intersect today.