The Brown University Library has acquired the library of the late David E. Pingree, an internationally renowned scholar of the history of mathematics. The collection, consisting of more than 22,000 materials, is a remarkable resource for the study of mathematics in the ancient world, in particular India, and the relationship of Eastern mathematics to the development of mathematics and related disciplines in the West.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — The Brown University Library has acquired the library of the late David E. Pingree, an internationally renowned historian of the exact sciences in antiquity and a member of the Brown faculty from 1971 to 2005. Pingree was chair of Brown’s Department of History of Mathematics and a University Professor.

Reflecting his scholarly interests, the collection focuses on the study of mathematics and exact sciences in the ancient world, especially India, and the relationship of Eastern mathematics to the development of mathematics and related disciplines in the West. The collection contains some 22,000 volumes and a number of other publications and manuscripts. The holdings consist of both antiquarian and recent materials published in Sanskrit, Arabic, Hindi, and Western languages as well as microfilm and photocopies of manuscript material from around the world, much of which is now lost in its original format.

“David Pingree was for many years a prominent member of our Brown University faculty with worldwide respect as the absolute leader in his field,” said Thomas Banchoff, the Royce Family Professor in Teaching Excellence in the Department of Mathematics. “His working collection of materials on the history of mathematics is unique and unparalleled.”

Holding court
In 1996, while his usual office was being renovated, Pingree and his library were moved to Sayles Gymnasium, now Smith-Buonanno Hall. The Pingree Collection is now in the John Hay Library.
Image: John Forasté

The Pingree Collection will add a new dimension to Brown’s important holdings in mathematics. With faculty support dating to the early 20th century, the Brown University Library has built a strong mathematics collection in both contemporary and antiquarian material, focused primarily on the Western tradition from Euclid to the present. In addition to important printed texts, Brown owns the archive of the American Mathematical Society.

The recipient of many honors, Pingree was among the first group of MacArthur Fellows in 1981 and used a portion of his award to support the library and the teaching of Sanskrit at Brown. “It is therefore only fitting that his remarkable collection should find its home at Brown’s John Hay and John D. Rockefeller Jr. libraries,” said Harriette Hemmasi, the Joukowsky Family University Librarian at Brown University.

The antiquarian books and manuscripts, along with the photocopies, will be administered by Brown’s Special Collections Library, with most of the remainder being incorporated into the circulating collections.

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