Yvonne Dold-Samplonius
{{short description|Dutch mathematician, historian of mathematics and historian (1937-2014)}}
File:Frei Milnor Dold-Samplonius Dold.jpg, John Milnor, Yvonne Dold-Samplonius, Albrecht Dold, Zürich 2007]]
Yvonne Dold-Samplonius (20 May 1937 – 16 June 2014) was a Dutch mathematician and historian who specialised in the history of Islamic mathematics during the Middle Ages. She was particularly interested in the mathematical methods used by Islamic architects and builders of the Middle Ages for measurements of volumes and measurements of religious buildings or in the design of muqarnas.
Biography
Born on 20 May 1937 in Haarlem, Yvonne Samplonius obtained her degree in mathematics and Arabic from the University of Amsterdam (Doktoratsexamen) in 1966.{{Cite journal|last=de Waard|first=Peter|date=2014|title=Yvonne Dold-Samplonius 1937–2014|url=http://www.iwr.uni-heidelberg.de/groups/ngg/People/dold-samplonius/Img/Yvonne-DutchObituary.pdf|journal=Obituary University of Heidelberg|language=nl}} In 1965 Yvonne Dold-Samplonius married the German mathematician Albrecht Dold. During 1966 and 1967, she studied at Harvard University under the direction of Professor John E. Murdoch. In 1977 she was awarded a PhD for her analysis of the treatise Kitāb al-mafrādāt li Aqāţun (Book of Assumptions of Aqātun) under the supervision of Prof. Evert Marie Bruins and Prof. Juan Vernet.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HSkPHQAACAAJ|title=Book of Assumptions by Aquatun: Text-critical Edition|last=Dold-Samplonius|first=Yvonne|year=1977}}{{Cite journal|last=Dold-Samplonius|first=Yvonne|date=1978|title=Some remarks on the Book of Assumptions by Aqatun|url=http://www.jphogendijk.nl/arabsci/Dold-Remarks-Aqatun.pdf|journal=Journal for the History of Arabic Science|volume=2|issue=2|pages=255–263}}
She came into contact with the work of the Persian mathematician, physicist and astronomer Abū Sahl al-Qūhī, who worked in Baghdad in the 10th century and worked on the geometrical forms of buildings.{{cite encyclopedia|year=2008|title=Al-Qūhī (or Al-Kūhī), Abū Sahl Wayjan Ibn Rustam|encyclopedia=Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography|publisher=Encyclopedia.com|url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-2830903554.html|last=Dold-Samplonius|first=Yvonne|orig-year=1970–80}} Through his work, she became interested in the geometrical calculations that helped with the building of many of the domes of palaces and mosques, called muqarnas, in the Arab world and Persia.{{Cite journal|last=Dold-Samplonius|first=Yvonne|date=1992-10-01|title=Practical Arabic Mathematics: Measuring the Muqarnas by al-K¯ash¯i|url=http://www.jphogendijk.nl/arabsci/Dold1.pdf|journal=Centaurus|language=en|volume=35|issue=3|pages=193–242|doi=10.1111/j.1600-0498.1992.tb00699.x|issn=1600-0498|bibcode=1992Cent...35..193D|access-date=2018-02-04|archive-date=2018-04-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180418014424/http://www.jphogendijk.nl/arabsci/Dold1.pdf|url-status=dead}}{{cite encyclopedia|title=Al-Jayyānī, Abū'Abd Allāh Muḥammad Ibn Mu'ādh|encyclopedia=Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography|publisher=Encyclopedia.com|url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-2830902173.html|last=Dold-Samplonius|first=Yvonne|date=1970|last2=Hermelink|first2=Heinrich}} She wrote articles on the Islamic mathematicians Jamshīd al-Kāshī and Abu-Abdullah Muhammad ibn Īsa Māhānī in the Dictionary of the Middle Ages and in the Dictionary of Scientific Biography.{{Cite news|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/al-Kashi|title=Al-Kāshī {{!}} Muslim astronomer and mathematician|last=Dold-Samplonius|first=Yvonne|work=Encyclopedia Britannica|access-date=2018-02-02|language=en}}{{cite encyclopedia|title=Al-Māhānī, Abū 'Abd Allāh Muḥammad Ibn 'Īsā|encyclopedia=Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography|publisher=Encyclopedia.com|url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-2830902765.html|last=Dold-Samplonius|first=Yvonne|date=2008|orig-year=1970-80}}
In her later years her interest shifted to the use of mathematics in Islamic architecture from an historic point of view.{{Cite journal|last=Dold-Samplonius|first=Yvonne|last2=Harmsen|first2=Silvia L.|date=2005|title=The Muqarnas Plate Found at Takht-I Sulayman: A New Interpretation|journal=Muqarnas|volume=22|pages=85–94|jstor=25482424|doi=10.1163/22118993_02201005}}{{cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_AUtLNtg3nsC&pg=PA235|title=The Enterprise of Science in Islam: New Perspectives|last=Dold-Samplonius|editor-last1=Hogendijk|first=Yvonne|editor-first1=J. P.|editor-last2=Sabra|editor-first2=A. I.|publisher=MIT Press|year=2003|isbn=978-0-262-19482-2|pages=235–265|chapter=Calculating Surface Areas and Volumes in Islamic Architecture}} From 1995, she was an associate member of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Scientific Computing (IWR) of the University of Heidelberg, with whom she has published several videos on Islamic geometrical art.{{Cite web|url=http://www.iwr.uni-heidelberg.de/groups/ngg/People/dold-samplonius/cv.php|title=Curriculum Vitae – Dr. Yvonne Dold-Samplonius|last=IWR - History of Islamic Mathematics|date=2014|website=www.iwr.uni-heidelberg.de|access-date=2018-02-04}}{{Cite web|last=Yvonne|first=Dold-Samplonius|first2=Silvia|last2=Harmsen|first3=Susanne|last3=Krömker|first4=Michael J.|last4=Winckler|date=2005|title=Magic of Muqarnas|type=Video|url=http://www.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/archiv/17446|language=de|doi=10.11588/heidok.00017446}} In 1985, she was a visiting professor at the University of Siena. In 2000, she organised with Joseph Dauben the conference "2000 Years of Transmission of Mathematical Ideas".{{cite book|editor-last=Dold-Samplonius|editor-first=Yvonne |editor-last2=Dauben|editor-first2=Joseph W. |title=From China to Paris: 2000 Years Transmission of Mathematical Ideas|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AG2XBCmxYcUC&pg=PR7|year=2002|publisher=Franz Steiner Verlag|isbn=978-3-515-08223-5}} In 2002, she became a Corresponding Member of the International Academy of the History of Sciences and was elected an effective member in 2007. She was made honorary citizen of Kashan in Iran in 2000.
Publications
- Yvonne Dold-Samplonius, [http://www.jphogendijk.nl/arabsci/Dold-Samplonius-Diss.pdf Dissertation: Book of Assumptions by Aqatun (Kitab al-Mafrudat li-Aqatun)], Amsterdam 1977.
- Yvonne Dold-Samplonius : Practical Arabic Mathematics: Measuring the Muqarnas by al-Kashi, Centaurus 35, 193–242, (1992/3).
- Yvonne Dold-Samplonius : How al-Kashi Measures the Muqarnas: A Second Look, M. Folkerts (Ed.), Mathematische Probleme im Mittelalter: Der lateinische und arabische Sprachbereich, Wolfenbütteler Mittelalter-Studien Vol. 10, 56 – 90, Wiesbaden, (1996).
- Yvonne Dold-Samplonius : Calculation of Arches and Domes in 15th Century Samarkand, Nexus Network Journal, Vol. 2(3), (2000).
- Yvonne Dold-Samplonius : Calculating Surface Areas and Volumes in Islamic Architecture, The Enterprise of Science in Islam, New Perspectives, Eds. Jan P. Hogendijk et Abdelhamid I. Sabra, MIT Press, Cambridge Mass. pp. 235–265, (2003).
- Yvonne Dold-Samplonius, Silvia L. Harmsen : The Muqarnas Plate Found at Takht-i Sulaiman, A New Interpretation, Muqarnas Vol. 22, Leiden, pp. 85–94, (2005).
Videos
- Yvonne Dold-Samplonius, Christoph Kindl, Norbert Quien : Qubba for al-Kashi, Video, Interdisciplinary Centre for Scientific Computing (IWR), Heidelberg University, American Mathematical Society, (1996). {{YouTube|id=oNZCXGJIQZA|title=Qubba for al-Kashi}}
- Yvonne Dold-Samplonius, Silvia L. Harmsen, Susanne Krömker, Michael Winckler : Magic of Muqarnas, Video, Interdisciplinary Centre for Scientific Computing (IWR), Heidelberg University, (2005).
References
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Category:20th-century Dutch historians
Category:Dutch women historians
Category:Dutch women mathematicians
Category:Historians of mathematics
Category:Mathematics in the medieval Islamic world