Karine Chemla

Karine Chemla is a Senior Fellow at SPHERE (Sciences, Philosophie, Histoire), a joint research unit of the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) and Université Paris Cité, specializing in the global history of mathematics and its cultural contexts.

Her research interests include:

• World History of Mathematics
• History of Chinese Mathematics (ancient and medieval)
• History of European Mathematics (18th–19th centuries)
• Cultural and Anthropological Approaches to Scientific Practice
• Textual Studies in Historical Scientific Traditions
• Systematic Description of Scholarly Cultures

Chemla pioneered the integration of Chinese mathematical traditions into world history through critical editions like Les neuf chapitres (2004), featuring the first glossary of ancient Chinese mathematical terminology. Her editorial works—including History of Science, History of Text (2004) and recent volumes on mathematical proof historiography—examine how scientific knowledge is embedded in textual practices and cultural frameworks, emphasizing cross-cultural comparative analysis in the anthropology of science.