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Henrik Kragh Sørensen
Henrik Kragh Sørensen was born in 1973 and has spent most of his life in Århus. He went to public school in a suburb of Århus before entering highschool (gymnasium) at Århus Statsgymnasium in 1989. He graduated in 1992 with A-levels in mathematics, physics, and chemistry. The same year, he immatriculated at the University of Aarhus to study mathematics and computer science.
From 1994 onwards, he followed multiple courses on the history of mathematics at the History of Science Department, and in 1998, he enrolled as a Ph.d. student at the History of Science Department with a project on the mathematics of Niels Henrik Abel. In December 1999, he obtained his candidates degree with a report on Niels Henrik Abel's works on the theory of equations. In March 2002, the dissertation was handed in to the Faculty of Science, University of Aarhus. The dissertation is entitled The Mathematics of Niels Henrik Abel. Continuation and New Approaches in Mathematics During the 1820s and it was defended on May 3, 2002.
Through detailed studies of Abel's works and their mathematical contexts, the development of mathematics in the early 19th century is described with a focus on concepts such as function, continuity, convergence, and irreducibility. The introduction of new mathematical objects as well as the prominence gradually given to counter examples is also discussed. The main emphasis is placed upon Abel's mathematics, his immediate predecessors and inspirators (Cauchy, Legendre, Gauss) and the first reception of his works. Ultimately, Abel's mathematics is thrown into perspective by introducing a change of paradigms from a formula based paradigm to a concept based paradigm in mathematics.
After defending his PhD, Henrik has been occupied with two projects. First, he has been associated with the project "History of Science in Denmark" in connection with which he has worked on the role and development of mathematics (and statistics etc.) in Denmark from 1800 to 1970. Second, he has been reworking his dissertation into articles which are being submitted. This last project was continued during his post-doctoral period at the University of Utrecht, The Netherlands, and is still ongoing.
After his post-doctoral position in Utrecht, Henrik moved on to Kristiansand, Norway, where he worked in another post-doc position. In Norway, Henrik's research centred on a project studying the establishing of regional research traditions in Scandinavian mathematics.
Following the years abroad, Henrik is now back in Aarhus at the Department of Science Studies. There, he continues his research projects, teaches history and philosophy of mathematics and computer science, and is involved in administration.
Henrik Kragh Sørensen's professional interests include the development of mathematics in the 19th century, the formation of mathematical concepts, objects, and theories, the use of counter examples in mathematics, 'maverick' approaches to the philosophy of mathematics, and the formation of research interests among Scandinavian mathematicians within the last 200 years. He also keeps an interest in mathematics 'proper', in particular in discrete mathematics and analysis.
Henrik Kragh likes to travel, both for business and for pleasure; and he "consumes" large quantities of fiction books, movies in cinemas, and DVD movies.
Outside the history of science, Henrik's interests also used to include playing basketball in Aabyhøj (until he got injured and - independently of the injury - moved abroad). He has now taken up this sport again by practising weekly with Brabrand IF and playing games in Serie 2 (Stillingen). He also enjoys playing computer strategy games (WoW), and programming computers (keywords include C/C++, MSVC, Perl, Glide (3dfx), DirectDraw, HTTP, PalmOS, Linux, Java, Swing, C#, LaTeX, etc). You can also visit his Various Links page.
Henrik's favorite comics include:
- F. Ibáñez' Mortadelo y Filemón (in Denmark known as Flip & Flop).
- Robert Storm Petersen's Peter og Ping. Danish quality from the middle 19th century.
- Bill Watterson's Calvin and Hobbes (in Danish, Steen og Stoffer).
- He also enjoys the internet comics Little Gamers, the software-oriented UserFriendly.org, and WulffMorgenthaler.com featured in Politiken. Speaking of newspapers, he also frequents other Danish newspapers such as Jyllands Posten and Aarhus Stiftstidende.
Henrik also likes bowling at a non-competitive level and has done so for many years. Recently, he has not bowled as much as he would like to, though. The following list is an (incomplete) list of some of his best and most recent results.
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Thanks to Anders Frederiksen, he has been involved in some very interesting programming projects, including Den Store Mission (TV show on Danish TV2) and various international badminton tournaments. For more information on these projects, please visit Nize Design.