Amir Alexander: On the Materiality of Mathematics 3
Atomism was a popular doctrine among 17th century natural philosophers, but it was also a dangerous one. Church theologians condemned atomism as incompatible with the immortality of the soul, the miracle of transubstantiation, and the proper order of knowledge. And because infinitesimal mathematics was essentially mathematical atomism, it too was viewed with suspicion. In 1632 the authorities of the Collegio Romano, world center of Jesuit learning, issued an edict rejecting the method of indivisibles and forbidding its teaching in Jesuit schools. The charge against mathematics? Materialism!
Book
Math Rutgers
Thales and Friends
Bonaventura Cavalieri I
Bonaventura Cavalieri II
Bonaventura Cavalieri III
Bonaventura Cavalieri IV
Bonaventura Cavalieri V
Bonaventura Cavalieri VI