Professor Roman Duda’s “A History of Polish Mathematics. A Cultural Perspective from Origins to Modernity” has been published

19.05.2026 | 19.05.2026

Professor Roman Duda’s book A History of Polish Mathematics. A Cultural Perspective from Origins to Modernity has been published by Peter Lang. The volume is the English-language edition of his monograph Historia matematyki w Polsce na tle dziejów nauki i kultury, originally published in 2019 by the Institute for the History of Science of the Polish Academy of Sciences and ASPRA-JR Publishing House.

The book presents the history of mathematics in the Polish lands from pagan times (the 10th century AD) to the present day, with particular emphasis on the period inaugurated by the reforms of the Commission of National Education and continuing through the 19th and 20th centuries into recent times. It offers an extensive, richly documented and illustrated panorama of the achievements of Polish mathematicians, placing them within the broader history of science, education and culture. Among other topics, the author discusses the significance of the world-renowned Polish School of Mathematics, the tragic losses caused by the Second World War, and the difficult process of rebuilding scientific life in post-war Poland. The publication is of interest not only to historians of mathematics, but also to scholars working on the history of science, education and Polish culture.

The English-language edition was prepared as part of a ministerial grant carried out by the Institute for the History of Science of the Polish Academy of Sciences: “Translation into English and publication in print and electronic form of Roman Duda’s monograph Historia matematyki w Polsce na tle dziejów nauki i kultury (Warsaw 2019)”, project no. NPRH/U21/SP/507538/2021/11. The project was financed from the state budget under the National Programme for the Development of Humanities.

The grant was supervised by Dr Karolina Karpińska from the Institute for the History of Science of the Polish Academy of Sciences, who also served as one of the academic editors of the English-language edition. The second academic editor was Dr Małgorzata Stawiska-Friedland, who was also responsible for the language editing of the text. The translation was prepared by Daniel R. M. Davies, a British mathematician, translator and editor, known among other things for his translation of Roman Duda’s Pearls from a Lost City.

The book has been published as volume 49 in the series Polish Studies – Transdisciplinary Perspectives. It is available from the Peter Lang website and through international book distribution channels, including Amazon and other online booksellers.

Bibliographic details:
Roman Duda, A History of Polish Mathematics. A Cultural Perspective from Origins to Modernity, Berlin–Bruxelles–Chennai–Lausanne–New York–Oxford: Peter Lang, 2026, 758 pp.
ISBN hardcover: 978-3-631-87764-7
ISBN PDF: 978-3-631-93209-4
ISBN ePUB: 978-3-631-94733-3
DOI: 10.3726/b23457

Original edition:
Roman Duda, Historia matematyki w Polsce na tle dziejów nauki i kultury, Warszawa: Instytut Historii Nauki PAN, Oficyna Wydawnicza ASPRA-JR, 2019, ISBN 978-83-7545-822-0.

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