About:

This two-day workshop presented lectures and discussion sessions on themes relevant to the issue raised in the title, focusing in particular on the international dimensions of mathematical activity and mathematical knowledge in the ancient world as well as their interaction with the local dimensions. Indeed, the history of ancient and medieval mathematics is commonly presented in terms of "blocks" like China, India, the Arabic world, etc. However, is it really meaningful to distinguish between ancient Egypt and Greece, or ancient Mesopotamia and Greece, or India and the Arabic world, India and China? Moreover, seen from the viewpoint of mathematics, is it appropriate to speak of Mesopotamia, or India, or China as uniform wholes? What did it mean to be an ancient Greek practitioner of mathematics, and how has this question been addressed in recent history? 

We believed it was time to address these questions broadly. The workshop was motivated by a belief shared by the organisers that an accurate understanding of history is critical to the peaceful and equitable coexistence of the regions of the world today and that a careful study of the role of the history of mathematics and practitioners of mathematics is central to this understanding. We are also convinced that work of this kind will help achieve a greater equity in the access to mathematics everywhere.