The Jesuit Ratio Studiorum , Christopher Clavius, and the Study of Mathematical Sciences in Universities

Bibliographic Data

ID4516491
AuthorsDennis C Smolarski (Santa Clara University, corresponding author)
Year2002
Volume15
Issue3
Pages447-457
Publication date2002-09-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueScience in Context (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0269-8897 • E-ISSN: 1474-0664
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s026988970200056x
OpenAlexW2058565149
LanguageEN
Citations received4

Argument In this paper, I examine the treatment of mathematics in the definitive 1599 Ratio Studiorum of the Jesuit Order and in the preliminary drafts of the Ratio that were done in 1586 and 1591. Drawing on some additional writings of the Jesuit mathematician Christopher Clavius and his view of the importance of mathematics in a university curriculum, I suggest that the inclusion of mathematics as a standard part of the curriculum in Jesuit schools at the beginning of the "scientific revolution" was of significant importance in a climate that often demeaned the work of mathematicians. Jesuit schools were being founded around the time of Galileo and other key figures who influenced the scientific revolution. The introduction of mathematical sciences into universities and the textbooks of Clavius laid the groundwork for generations of students to become better acquainted with mathematics and the sciences that were being developed during that period of history

Aesthetics · Art · Curriculum · Galileo (satellite navigation · Geography · History of mathematics · Inclusion (mineral · Mathematics education · Pedagogy · Period (music · Social science · Sociology · Classics · Historical and Literary Studies · Historical Philosophy and Science · History and Theory of Mathematics · Mathematics · Philosophy

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