Linyuan Li

I am a PhD student in the History track of the Program in History and Philosophy of Science (HPS) at the John J. Reilly Center for Science, Technology, and Values. I was born in Zhengzhou, China, and spent 7 years studying in Beijing before coming to Notre Dame. I received my BSc in Mathematics from Peking University and my MSc in History of Science and Technology from Tsinghua University, where I completed my master's thesis on Christiaan Huygens' early dioptric studies on spherical lenses.

My research interests focus on the history of the exact sciences, particularly from antiquity to the early modern period, with a special emphasis on mathematics, optics and physics in early modern Europe. My prospective research explores how the 17th-century mathematician community transformed Descartes' promising but underdeveloped geometric method in La Géométrie (1637) into a fully developed discipline of Cartesian analytic geometry, characterized by standardized procedures and mathematical techniques. I also investigate how these mathematicians, through their application of the Cartesian method to various problems, established criteria or epistemic values in mathematical practices, such as simplicity and elegance.

Additionally, I am interested in the relationship between 17-century mathematical practices and ancient and medieval scholarship, Cartesian natural philosophy and physics, and the history of scientific instruments.