Klára Andresová: Mathematics in the service of warfare: Military mathematics and military handbooks in the period 1550–1650

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Klára Andresová (Masaryk Institute and Archives of the Czech Academy of Sciences): Mathematics in the service of warfare: Military mathematics and military handbooks in the period 1550–1650

Abstract

There were 227 military manuals printed in Central Europe between 1550 and 1650. Most of these books were intended for wealthy readers, usually from the nobility. The books, often written by experienced commanders, provided officers, and especially those who wanted to embark on an officer’s career, valuable information on period military theory and practice. Military handbooks were basically textbooks that could be used for military education in schools or in self-study. In the development of military manuals over the years, it is possible to observe gradually increasing demands on officers’ education and the increasingly scientific approach to contemporary warfare. Science, including mathematics, was an essential part of the military art of the time. Ten of the military manuals examined focused directly on the military use of mathematics. The lecture will focus generally on the genre of military manuals printed in Central Europe in 1550–1650, with special attention to handbooks dealing with military mathematics. 

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Generously founded by the Lumina Quaeruntur Grant: Odemykání matematiky: výuka a vzdělávací praxe v habsburských zemích během dlouhého 18. Století