Clemency Montelle (born 8 July 1977)[1] is a New Zealand historian of mathematics known for her research on Indian mathematics and Indian astronomy.[2][3] She is a professor of mathematics at the University of Canterbury,[1][4] and a fellow of the New Zealand India Research Institute of the Victoria University of Wellington.[5]

Education

Montelle is originally from Christchurch.[2] She earned first class honours in mathematics and classical studies at the University of Canterbury in 1999, and completed a master's degree there in 2000.[1] It was not until the fourth year of her studies that, finding a copy of Euclid's Elements in the original Greek, she realized that she could reconcile her two interests by working in the history of mathematics.[2][3]

She became a Fulbright Scholar at Brown University, where she learned Cuneiform, Sanskrit, and Arabic.[3][6] She completed a Ph.D. in the history of mathematics there in 2005;[1] at Brown, her faculty mentors included David Pingree, Alice Slotsky, and Kim Plofker.[7]

Service

Montelle was vice president of the Commission for the History of Ancient and Medieval Astronomy for the 2017–2021 term. [8] In 2026, she was awarded the Agnes Mary Clerke Medal for the History of Astronomy by the Royal Astronomical Society. [9]

Books

Montelle is the author of the book Chasing Shadows: Mathematics, Astronomy, and the Early Reckoning of Eclipse theory (Johns Hopkins Press, 2011).[10] With Kim Plofker, she is the coauthor of Sanskrit Astronomical Tables (Springer, 2019).[11]

References

  1. ^ "Curriculum vitae", November 2011, retrieved 2020-09-17
  2. ^ "Profile: Clemency Montelle", New Zealand Mathematical Society Newsletter. 131: 16–17, December 2017
  3. ^ "Dr Clemency Montelle revealing the many faces of mathematics", Royal Society of New Zealand, 20 December 2017
  4. ^ "Clemency Montelle", University of Canterbury, retrieved 2020-09-17
  5. ^ "Dr Clemency Montelle", New Zealand India Research Institute, retrieved 2020-09-17
  6. ^ White, Rebekah (March–April 2018), "The Gaps in History: Clemency Montelle reads mathematics and astronomy texts in ancient languages"
  7. ^ coordinator (March 14, 2014), "Three questions to Clemency Montelle", SAW ERC: Mathematical Sciences in the Ancient World, doi:10.58079/tw17, retrieved 2020-09-17
  8. ^ "CHAMA officers", Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, New York University, 27 September 2011, retrieved 2020-09-17
  9. ^ "Winners of 2026 RAS Awards revealed". 9 January 2026.
  10. ^ Reviews of Chasing Shadows: *Bowen, Alan C. (June 2013), "none", Isis. 104 (2): 385–387, doi:10.1086/672171. JSTOR 10.1086/672171 *Duke, Dennis (November 2012), "none", Journal for the History of Astronomy. 43 (4): 500–502, doi:10.1177/002182861204300410. S2CID 122471382 *Kerszberg, Pierre, "none", MathSciNet, MR 2919869 *Linton, Christopher (March 2012), "Notices of the American Mathematical Society", Vol. 59, 3 ed., pp. 430–433 *McCleary, John (January 2014), "Review", MAA Reviews, Mathematical Association of America
  11. ^ Reviews of Sanskrit Astronomical Tables: *Dani, S. G., "none", MathSciNet, MR 3929708 *Guthery, Scott (August 2019), "Review", MAA Reviews, Mathematical Association of America