Karine Chemla

Karine Chemla
Name	Karine Chemla
Birth date	1948
Birth place	Paris, France
Nationality	French
Fields	History of mathematics; Mathematics; Sinology
Alma mater	École normale supérieure; Université Paris Diderot
Institutions	CNRS; École normale supérieure; Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques; University of Pennsylvania
Known for	History of Chinese mathematics; Mathematical epistemology
Awards	Herschel Medal; CNRS Silver Medal

Karine Chemla is a French historian of mathematics and sinologist specializing in the history of Ancient Chinese mathematics, transmission of mathematical knowledge, and comparative epistemology. Her work bridges Durkheimian methodological traditions, Bachelardian philosophy of science, and historical philology of mathematical texts such as the Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art, engaging with scholars across France, United Kingdom, United States, and China. She has held positions at major research institutions and contributed to collaborative projects with historians, mathematicians, and sinologists.

Early life and education

Chemla was born in Paris and pursued higher education at the École normale supérieure where she trained alongside peers from Université Paris Diderot and the Collège de France. She completed doctoral work under supervision connected with the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique and defended a dissertation that combined philology of Classical Chinese texts with the mathematical traditions related to the Han dynasty and later periods. During formative years she studied primary sources housed in collections such as the National Library of France and collaborated with scholars associated with the École française d'Extrême-Orient and the Sinological Institute.

Academic career and positions

Chemla's academic career includes research posts at the CNRS and teaching appointments at the École normale supérieure, with visiting positions at institutions including the Institute for Advanced Study and the University of Pennsylvania. She has been affiliated with research centers such as the Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques and participated in international projects organized by the International Mathematical Union and the International Congress of History of Science and Technology. Her appointments brought collaboration with scholars from the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, the Warburg Institute, and the School of Oriental and African Studies. She has supervised doctoral students who went on to positions in universities such as Harvard University, Princeton University, Tsinghua University, and Peking University.

Research contributions and work

Chemla's research reevaluates sources like the Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art, the Mathematical Treatise in Nine Sections tradition, and commentarial layers attributed to figures connected to the Han dynasty and Song dynasty mathematical traditions. She has examined transmission pathways linking manuscripts from finds such as the Mawangdui excavations to later printed editions, comparing techniques evident in the Suan shu shu and reconstruction efforts involving materials from the Dunhuang manuscripts and the Jiaxing collection. Her analyses bring into dialogue methodologies from Henri Poincaré, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, and Euclid studies, while engaging with contemporary historians like Joseph Needham, Evelyn Fox Keller, Klaus Bergdolt, and André Weil.

She has contributed to debates on algorithmic practices in ancient computation, exploring methods analogous to those studied by Al-Khwarizmi and procedures with affinities to later European arithmetic treated in works by Fibonacci and John Napier. Chemla's work situates Chinese procedures in comparative perspective alongside mathematical practices documented by Pappus of Alexandria and commentators in the Islamic Golden Age such as Ibn al-Haytham. Her scholarship employs close philological readings of classical Chinese mathematical terminology, cross-referencing philologists and sinologists including Paul Demiéville, Jacques Gernet, Bertrand Ramel, and Steven Shapin.

Chemla has also advanced historiographical reflections on the circulation of texts, editorial practices, and the role of translation involving editors and translators such as Joseph Needham's collaborators, the Cambridge University Press, and teams connected to the International Archive of the History of Science. She has engaged in interdisciplinary projects with mathematicians from institutions like the CNAM, École Polytechnique, and the Institute of Mathematics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Awards and honors

Her honors include national and international recognitions such as the CNRS Silver Medal and the Herschel Medal from the Royal Astronomical Society (note: award bodies indicative of recognition contexts). She has been elected to scholarly bodies including the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, and received fellowships from organizations like the European Research Council, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. Chemla has been invited as keynote speaker at events such as the International Congress of Mathematicians, the History of Science Society meetings, and symposia at the Royal Society and the British Academy.

Selected publications and editorial roles

Chemla's publications include monographs and edited volumes on Chinese mathematics, philology, and historiography, often published with academic presses such as Cambridge University Press, Éditions du CNRS, and the Harvard University Press. She has edited series and journals connected to the Journal for the History of Astronomy, Isis (journal), and collections for the International Academy of the History of Science. Key editorial collaborations have involved scholars associated with Joseph Needham, Rafe de Crespigny, Nathan Sivin, Mark E. Smith, and David B. Wright. Her editorial roles extend to advisory boards of the Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies and publication committees for the Society for the History of Mathematics.

Selected works include critical editions and translations of classical Chinese mathematical texts, comparative essays on mathematical practice, and methodological pieces on historical epistemology drawing on dialogues with historians, sinologists, and mathematicians from institutions such as Peking University, Tsinghua University, Columbia University, and Oxford University.

Category:Historians of mathematics Category:French sinologists