Mathematics Books and the Motivations of Their Authors in 18th-Century Spain

Alexander Maz-Machado; María Rodríguez-Baiget; Débora Rodríguez-Baiget; Jorge Jiménez-Gutiérrez

doi:10.47814/ijssrr.v9i1.3179

Alexander Maz-Machado Universidad de Córdoba, Spain
María Rodríguez-Baiget Universidad de Córdoba, Spain
Débora Rodríguez-Baiget Universidad de la Rioja, Spain
Jorge Jiménez-Gutiérrez Universidad de Córdoba, Spain

DOI: https://doi.org/10.47814/ijssrr.v9i1.3179

Keywords: History of Mathematics Education; Mathematics Textbooks; 18th Century; Authorial Motivations; Spain

Abstract

This research examines the motivations of authors of mathematics books published in Spain during the 18th century through a comprehensive analysis of a corpus of seventeen representative works. The prologues and introductory discourses of these manuals are analysed using a historical-documentary approach to ascertain the objectives declared by their authors and to establish a connection between these objectives and the various types of mathematical production from that period. The results reveal a tripartite structure in authorial motivations: a didactic orientation, associated with elementary teaching and constituting the majority group; a professional or technical motivation, linked to mathematics applied to trades and to military or administrative institutions; and a social or moral motivation, related to Enlightenment ideology and the formation of the rational citizen. The graphical analysis of these correspondences demonstrates a historical progression from school mathematics towards applied mathematics and, to a lesser extent, towards a moralising discourse on its usefulness for social progress. This study contributes to understanding the educational role of mathematical manuals in Enlightenment Spain and provides a foundation for future research on the history of mathematics textbooks. This study contributes to understanding the educational role of mathematical manuals in Enlightenment Spain and provides a foundation for future research on the history of mathematics textbooks.

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