Mathematics in the Archives and Beyond with Prof. Ron Buckmire

Mathematics in the Archives and Beyond with Prof. Ron Buckmire

Share

November 07, 2025
Accelerate
Achievements
Community
Left to right: Ron Buckmire, Phyllis Ju, and Mits Kobayashi examining rare books at Rauner Special Collections Library

from left: Prof. Ron Buckmire, Phyllis Ju, and Mits Kobayashi examining rare books at Rauner Special Collections Library

Delving into mathematics’ history with a view to the future

The C. Dwight Lahr Lecture Series, sponsored by Dartmouth’s Department of Mathematics, is an annual event bringing together the Upper Valley and Dartmouth communities to engage with mathematics and hear from diverse experts in the field. Established in 2020, the series honors Dr. Lahr’s legacy and commitment to inclusivity and diversity. Each year, the department seeks nominations for its next guest speaker, and this year mathematics librarian Lilly Linden immediately recalled Prof. Ron Buckmire from their time teaching at Occidental College in California. She knew he would be a brilliant speaker to honor Dr. Lahr’s legacy. 

Professor Buckmire has always brought a certain energy and vibrancy to academia…At Occidental College, undergraduates in the mathematics department consistently praised the engagement and dynamism of his courses. I see the same energy and vibrancy after reconnecting with him several years later, even in his more administrative role at Marist University.

Lilly Linden, STEM Librarian

We were excited that Ron was chosen to lead this year’s C. Dwight Lahr Lecture Series, offering two talks, one focused on the study and research of mathematics and the other designed for all to attend. Ron shares that he was honored to be selected and that it was “incredibly uplifting to learn about C. Dwight Lahr’s legacy” as the first Black man to be a tenured mathematician at an Ivy League university who also became the Dartmouth Dean of Faculty. “I really appreciate and applaud the Dartmouth Department of Mathematics for creating the Lahr lecture series.”

Squaring the Rainbow

In Ron’s Friday evening public talk titled “Squaring the Rainbow,” he shared how his identity and mathematics intersect professionally, historically, and personally to a crowded room filled with Dartmouth students, staff, faculty, and community members. Ron is one of the few openly gay, Black, immigrant mathematicians in the US with an illustrious academic legacy since receiving a Ph.D. in mathematics in 1994. In 2023, he was named a Fellow of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM), the first person from a small liberal arts college, the fourth Black person, and the first openly LGBTQ+ person to receive this prestigious honor.

Ron writes, “I hoped to demonstrate the importance of diversity to the enterprise of mathematics by talking about openly LGBTQ mathematicians and as an openly LGBTQ mathematician myself because diversity is a fact of life—inclusion is a choice. I hope that more people and institutions choose to be inclusive!” He also discussed and shared examples demonstrating the intersection of LGBT identity and mathematics as “non-empty in the past, present, and future.” We look forward to his publication on this topic.

Mathematics in the Archives

In preparation for his visit to Dartmouth, Lilly reached out to colleagues at Dartmouth Libraries Rauner Special Collections Library, collating archived books and articles by giants in mathematics, physics, and philosophy, including Euler, Newton, Galileo, and Archimedes. These items were extra special because, even though they are viewable online, Dartmouth is one of the few institutions that gives community members hands-on access to these rare physical materials. 

mathematics book from Rauner Library archives

Ron and faculty from the Department of Mathematics were awed by the typesetting and geometric drawings found in these ancient texts, given that typesetting challenges for how best to display mathematical equations, ideas, and images in written form continue today. Faculty members were also quick to use Google Lens Translate to read the Greek, German, French, and Latin texts. This sparked conversations around how knowledge and research spread across the globe, especially in the context of Newton’s Opticks, which was first published in English, “a rarity,” Ron shares, “among these ancient scientific treasures.”

Going to the Rauner Special Collections was a highlight of my visit to Dartmouth. Getting up close to original, ancient works of mathematical giants was incredible. I can’t believe I held a 4000-year-old Babylonian tablet in my hands!!

Professor Ron Buckmire

The group also examined the first edition of Einstein's “Unified Theory” publication. This work sparked further discussion since Amalie Emmy Noether, the only female mathematician listed on the back cover page of the reprint, caught Phyllis Ju’s attention as a new assistant professor in Dartmouth’s Department of Mathematics. 

While at Rauner, the group also asked what the oldest object in the archives was. Lilly immediately asked Jay Satterfield, Head of Rauner Library & Special Collections, if they could view the cuneiform tablets. The group was astonished that they were welcome to view and handle these artifacts. Learning about the provenance of the cuneiform tablets led to a conversation about the history of commerce, record-keeping, and information retrieval (ask to see these tablets to learn why!).

cuneiform tablets from rauner library

We are grateful that Ron’s visit to Dartmouth gave us all an opportunity to examine some of our mathematical treasures and learn about contemporary LGBTQ mathematicians, whom we look forward to learning more about in the upcoming publication of “Squaring the Rainbow." Ron thoroughly enjoyed his visit to Hanover, discovering just how exceptional and “world-class” Dartmouth is, and now he can tell people he has been here and that “it's lovely!” We hope that members of the Dartmouth community will continue to engage with and explore Dartmouth’s Special Collections, including the materials that were examined by Ron and others during their October visit. 

Research is built on past enquiry and we welcome each of you to come and discover hidden treasures from your discipline. Don’t know where to start—your subject librarian can help.

Back to top