Censored beginning of a copy of Wiedeburg's Elements of mathematics kept in Munich (www.digitale-sammlungen.de/view/bsb1059...). An uncensored copy (imagines.manuscriptorium.com/loris/NKCR__...) shows the erased words: "Reformation", "Seel. Lutheri", and a polemic passage against catholic culture.

In 12 days Petra Hyklová and Petra Stankovic will talk about mathematical and astronomical communities in the 19th and 20th centuries (www.flu.cas.cz/en/?view=art...)

The special issue of "History of Universities" that I co-edited with Marco Sgarbi is finally out. its goal to examine how changes in the mathematical sciences in the 17-18th centuries impacted the way knowledge was trasmitted in schools. Here is a link to the volume: academic.oup.com/book/60905

Para quienes estan en España y desean saber más sobre la historia de las matemáticas (y también sobre la cuadratura del círculo)!

Some thoughts on the Jesuit mathematics teacher Claude Francois Millet Dechales and a copy of his book I found in an American bookstore: pubmaths.wordpress.com/2025/08/23/e...

Modern marginalia from Apollonius' Conics. Something to die for.

My friend Elías Fuentes Guillén is doing an interesting research on and around Bernard Bolzano in Prague. Here you can read more about results, outcomes and future directions of research: prag-matika.com

Eu tambem guardo castanhas cada ano. Detalhe interessante: depois de afirmar que "aborigenes" nao "tem a menor nocao de aritmetica", vai explicando como utilizam aritmetica 🤷‍♂️
(J. nieuhof, Memoravel viagem ... www.google.cz/books/editio...)

Sadly, two Italian historians of science/mathematics passed away this month: Gianni Micheli and Lucio Russo. Micheli wrote mainly or only for the Italian public, "Le origini del concetto di macchina" is a beautiful book on mechanics in antiquity and the Renaissance.
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Most historical questions on mathoverflow are about contemporary mathematics (see zbmath.org/7982818) but here is a recent question on Euclid and ratio: mathoverflow.net/questions/49...

Who were the readers of early modern mathematics books? An auctioned copy of Dechales' user-friendly French translation of Euclid, commented by Ozanam, belonged to the Marquis de Monteynard, who made a successful career under Louis XV (drouot.com/fr/l/2103968...).

The Piarists, founded by José Calasanz, were a religious order that ran many grammar schools in Italy, Spain, and Eastern Europe during the early modern period, alongside the more well-studied Jesuits. Their Ratio Studiorum (1694) devoted particular attention to the teaching of basic mathematics.

New publication on Leibniz!

press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...

Bernard Bolzano's manuscripts kept in Prague's archives are now being digitized thanks to Elías Fuentes Guillén and his team members' effort: www.flu.cas.cz/cz/pro-verej...

I wrote a chapter on Wolff's Elementa matheseos universae for this recent volume edited by Philip Beeley and Ciarán Mac an Bhaird. Wolff's tetxbook and the resulting compendia enjoyed a great fortune, circulating across and outside Europe during the 18th century.

link.springer.com/book/10.1007...

For the first seminar of the project "Unlocking mathematics: teaching and learning practices during the long 18th century", we are happy to host Maria Rosa Massa Esteve who will speak about mathematics at the Royal Military Academy of Barcelona.

www.sciencedirect.com/org/science/...

A fascinating questions: who were the readers of mathematical textbooks? Sometimes traces are left, like here: "This book belongs to De Lamotte, dit St Dominique, soldier of the de Beauvoissis regiment, Compagnie de Depalais, october 2, 1756". drouot.com/fr/l/8120401...

First post: A few months ago, I started a new project supported by the Czech Academy of Sciences: "Unlocking mathematics: teaching and learning practices in the Habsburg lands during the longh 18th century". Hopefully I can share some results and insights here.