author
Louis Charles Karpinski
1878–1956
Best known for bringing the history of mathematics to life, this American scholar also built a second reputation as a historian of maps. His work linked classroom teaching, rare books, and early cartography in a way that still feels unusually wide-ranging.
1 Audiobook
The Hindu-Arabic Numerals
by David Eugene Smith, Louis Charles Karpinski
About the author
Born in Rochester, New York, in 1878, Louis Charles Karpinski studied at Cornell University and then earned his doctorate at the University of Strasbourg in 1903. After early teaching posts, he joined the University of Michigan, where he spent most of his career and became a professor of mathematics.
Karpinski is remembered especially for his work on the history of mathematics. He wrote and edited studies on arithmetic, algebra, and mathematical manuscripts, helping English-speaking readers discover older mathematical traditions and sources. He was also active in teaching, and several accounts of his life note how seriously he took mathematics education.
Beyond mathematics, he became an important historian of cartography. He collected and studied early maps relating to the Americas and published research in that field as well, giving him an unusual place at the crossroads of mathematics, bibliography, and map history. He died in Winter Haven, Florida, in 1956.