Kidwell, Peggy
Former Curator
History of mathematical instruments and mathematics teaching.
Background And Education
Education And Training
- B.A., Grinnell College
- M.Phil., Yale University
- Ph.D., Yale University
Publications
Selected Publications
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Article
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2023. "Aiding the Teaching of Geometry and Affording Mathematical Recreation: Paper Folding in the Spirit of Sundara Rao of Madras." Convergence, (March). https://doi.org/10.4169/20230313. 2023
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2023. "Promoting Computing in the Postwar United States-The Case of UCLA." IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, 45, (2) 43–52. https://doi.org/10.1109/MAHC.2023.3261672. 2023
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2022. "Mathematical instruments from times of crisis." British Journal for the History of Mathematics, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/26375451.2022.2040897. 2022
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2021. "Keys to Mathematical Treasure Chests." Convergence, (July). 2021
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2021. "Keys to Mathematical Treasure Chests: 19th-century String Models." Convergence, (July). 2021
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2021. "Spaces for mathematical instruments – What can one learn from instrument cases?" Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society, (150) 30–33. 2021
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich and Walden, David. 2019. "Flowcharting Templates." IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, 41, (1) 55–57. https://doi.org/10.1109/MAHC.2019.2893719. 2019
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2019. "The Role of Governments in the Spread of Novel Computing Devices in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century United States." IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, 41, (1) 7–19. https://doi.org/10.1109/MAHC.2019.2897103. 2019
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2017. "Uta Merzbach (1933-2014)." Canadian Society for the History and Philosophy of Mathematics Bulletin, (61) 17–18. 2017
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2015. "Playing checkers with machines – from Ajeeb to Chinook." Information & Culture: A Journal of History, 50, (4) 578–587. https://doi.org/10.1353/lac.2015.0019. 2015
- Ackerberg-Hastings, Amy K. and Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2015. "Slide rules at the National Museum of American History." Journal of the Oughtred Society, 24, (1) 23–27. 2015
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2015. "Useful instruction for practical people - Early printed discussions of the slide rule in the United States." IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, 37, (1) 36–43. https://doi.org/10.1109/MAHC.2015.17. 2015
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2014. "From the Curator's Desk: Online Encyclopedia of Smithsonian Mathematical Instruments." IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, 36, (3) 88–89. 2014
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2014. "Playing Cards for Mathematical Learning." International Journal for the History of Mathematics Education, 9, (2) 25–40. 2014
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2010. "Benjamin Peirce and Technologies of Mathematics Education." International Journal for the History of Mathematics Education, 5, (2) 31–40. 2010
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2009. "Computing devices, mathematics education and mathematics: Sexton's omnimetre in its time." Historia Mathematica, 36, (4) 395–404. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hm.2009.06.001. 2009
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2009. "The Astrolabe for Latitude 41°N of Simeon de Witt: An Early American Celestial Planisphere." Imago Mundi, 61, (1) 91–96. https://doi.org/10.1080/03085690802456285. 2009
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2008. "Mobilizing Minds: American Mathematics and Science Education for the Cold War." Rittenhouse, 21, (1) 46–64. 2008
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2007. "Mobilizing Minds: American Mathematics and Science Education for the Cold War." Rittenhouse, 21, (1) 46–64. 2007
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Blog Posting
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich and Schechner, Sarah. 2022. "How did a French pocket sundial end up buried in a field in Indiana?" O Say Can You See? Washington, DC: Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Jul 20, 2022. https://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/pocket-sundial. 2022
- Kidwell, Peggy A. 2021. "Signposts to Diverse Stories of Invention." Lemelson Center Blog Washington, DC: Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation. Feb 8, 2021. https://invention.si.edu/signposts-diverse-stories-invention. 2021
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2020. "From Innovators to Curators, Making Do is Nothing New." Lemelson Center Blog Washington, DC: Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation. Oct 20, 2020. https://invention.si.edu/innovators-curators-making-do-nothing-new. 2020
- Kidwell, Peggy. 2018. "Grace Under Pressure." O Say Can You See? Washington, DC: Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Sep 25, 2018. https://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/grace-under-pressure. 2018
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2017. "A curator goes to the movies: The stuff of "Hidden Figures"." O Say Can You See http://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/hidden-figures. 2017
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2017. "Pi Day: An American celebration." O Say Can You See March 13. http://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/pi-day-celebration. 2017
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2015. "Consul the Educated Monkey, or the inventions of William H. Robertson." O Say Can You See http://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/consul-educated-monkey-or-inventions-william-h-robertson. 2015
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2015. "Engaging minds: American mathematics 100 years ago." O Say Can You See http://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/engaging-minds-american-mathematics-100-years-ago. 2015
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2014. "50 years of the computer language BASIC." O Say Can You See http://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/2014/08/50-years-of-the-computer-language-basic.html. 2014
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2014. "May the circle be unbroken: The IBM 360 and the birth of multipurpose computers." O Say Can You See http://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/2014/04/may-the-circle-be-unbroken-the-ibm-360-and-the-birth-of-multipurpose-computers.html. 2014
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2010. "50 years of running COBOL." O Say Can You See http://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/2010/12/50-years-of-running-cobol.html. 2010
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Book
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich, Ackerberg-Hastings, Amy K., and Roberts, David Lindsa. 2008. Tools of American Mathematics Teaching, 1800-2000. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. 2008
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Chapter
- Kidwell, Peggy A. 2022. "Consul the Educated Monkey." In Materials for the History of Science: A Whipple Museum Festschrift to Celebrate the Directorship of Professor Liba Taub. Nall, Joshua, Hyslop, James, and Jardine, Boris, editors. 38–39. Cambridge: Whipple Museum of the History of Science. 2022
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2017. "Mathematical Instruments Changing Hands at World's Fairs, 1851-1904." In How Scientific Instruments Have Changed Hands. Morrison-Low, A. D., Schechner, Sara, and Brenni, Paolo, editors. 88–103. Leiden / Boston: Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004324930_006. 2017
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2016. "Charter Members of the MAA and the Material Culture of American Mathematics." In Research in History and Philosophy of Mathematics. Zack, Maria and Landry, Elaine, editors. 205–219. Springer International Publishing. In Proceedings of the Canadian Society for History and Philosophy of Mathematics/La Société Canadienne d'Histoire et de Philosophie des Mathématiques. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-46615-6_15. 2016
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2015. "Sharing Mathematical Treasures from the Dibner Library." In The Era of Experiments and the Age of Wonder: Scientific Expansion from the Seventeenth to the Nineteenth Centuries. Vekerdy, Lilla, editor. 57–59. Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press. 2015
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2013. "The Mathematical Paintings of Crockett Johnson, 1965–1975: An Amateur and His Sources." In Analyzing Art and Aesthetics. Goodyear, Anne Collins and Weitekamp, Margaret A., editors. 198-211. 2013
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2008. "Creating Spaces in Astronomy – Dorrit Hoffleit in Cambridge, Aberdeen and New Haven." In The Hoffleit Centennial: A Year of Celebration,. Philip, A. D. G., van Altena, W. F., and Koopmann, R. A., editors. 3–10. Schenectady: L. Davis Press. 2008
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich and Ackerberg-Hastings, Amy K. 2007. "Exhibiting Mathematical Objects: Making Sense of Your Department's Material Culture." In Hands-on History: A Resource for Teaching Mathematics. Shell-Gellasch, Amy, editor. 163–174. Washington, DC: Mathematical Association of America. https://doi.org/10.5948/UPO9780883859766.018. 2007
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Review
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2019. [Book review] "Magic Squares: Their History and Construction from Ancient Times to AD 1600." MAA Reviews (Mathematical Association of America), 2019
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2017. [Book review] "Luke Heaton, A Brief History of Mathematical Thought." Endeavour, 41, (3), 70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.endeavour.2017.05.001. 2017
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2017. [Book review] "Science in the Archives: Pasts, Presents, Futures, by Lorraine Daston." MAA Reviews, 2017
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2014. [Book review] "James Clerk Maxwell: Perspectives on his Life and Work, edited by Raymond Flood, Mark McCartney, and Andrew Whitaker." MAA Reviews, 2014
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2014. [Book review] "The History of the History of Mathematics: Case Studies for the Seventeenth, Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries." Annals of Science, 71, (4), 595–597. https://doi.org/10.1080/00033790.2012.752862. 2014
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich and Kidwell, Mark E. 2012. [Book review] "Sharon Bertsch McGrayne, The Theory That would Not Die: How Bayes' Rule Cracked the Enigma Code, Hunted Down Russian Submarienes, and Emerged Triumphant from Two Centuries of Controversy." Isis, 103, (1), 162–163. https://doi.org/10.1086/666402. 2012
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2011. [Book review] " Jeff Suzuki. Mathematics in Historical Context." Mathematical Monthly, 2011
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2010. [Book review] "Bruce Stanley Burdick. Mathematical Works Printed in the Americas, 1554-1700." Isis, 101, (1), 215–216. https://doi.org/10.1086/653873. 2010
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2010. [Book review] "Ivor Grattan- Guinness. Routes of Learning: Highways, Pathways, and Byways in the History of Mathematics." Isis, 101, (3), 629–630. https://doi.org/10.1086/657181. 2010
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2009. [Book review] "Ian F. McNeely, Lisa Wolverton Reinventing Knowledge: From Alexandria to the Internet." Isis, 100, (4), 889–890. https://doi.org/10.1086/652041. 2009
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2009. [Book review] "Renée Bergland, Maria Mitchell and the Sexing of Science: An Astronomer among the American Romantics." The American Historical Review, 114, (3), 757–758. https://doi.org/10.1086/ahr.114.3.757. 2009
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2008. [Book review] "Calculating a Natural World: Scientists, Engineers, and Computers During the Rise of U.S. Cold War Research by Atsushi Akera." Technology and Culture, 49, (1), 249–250. https://doi.org/10.1353/tech.2008.0039. 2008
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2007. [Book review] "Bettye Anne Case and Anne M. Leggett, Complexities: Women in Mathematics." Minerva, 45, (3), 345–348. 2007
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2007. [Book review] "Colossus: The Secrets of Bletchley Park's Codebreaking Computer edited by B. Jack Copeland." Technology and Culture, 48, (3), 663–664. https://doi.org/10.1353/tech.2007.0112. 2007
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Webpage
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2021. Object Group: Geometric Models - Dissected Polyhedra. Smithsonian National Museum of American History. 2021
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2021. Object Group: Geometric Models - Minimal Surfaces as Soap Films. Smithsonian National Museum of American History. 2021
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2021. Object Group: Geometric Models - Models by Richard P. Baker. Smithsonian National Museum of American History. 2021
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2021. Object Group: Geometric Models – Plane Dissections. Smithsonian National Museum of American History. 2021
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2021. Object Group: Geometric Models –Surfaces of Degree Two, in Paper. Smithsonian National Museum of American History. 2021
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2021. Object Group: Mechanical Integrators and Differential Analyzers. Smithsonian National Museum of American History. 2021
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2021. Object Group: Punch Cards. Smithsonian National Museum of American History. 2021
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2021. Object Group: Teaching Machines and Mechanical Learning. Smithsonian National Museum of American History. 2021
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2021. Object Group: Trigonometry in the Plane. Smithsonian National Museum of American History. 2021
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2021. Object Group: Trigonometry on the Sphere. Smithsonian National Museum of American History. 2021
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2021. Object Group: Women Teaching and Learning Mathematics in the United States. Smithsonian National Museum of American History. 2021
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2020. Mathematical Charts and Tables. Smithsonian National Museum of American History. 2020
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2018. Flowcharting Templates. National Museum of American History Behring Center. Smithsonian National Museum of American History, Behring Center. 2018
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2018. Geometric Models - Regular-Faced Convex Polyhedra. Smithsonian National Museum of American History, Behring Center. 2018
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2016. Electronic Calculators - Desktop. Smithsonian National Museum of American History Behring Center. 2016
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2016. Electronic Calculators – Handheld. Smithsonian National Museum of American History Behring Center. 2016
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2016. Geometric Models - Regular-Faced Convex Polyhedra. Smithsonian National Museum of American History Behring Center. 2016
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2015. Mathematical Objects Relating to Charter Members of the MAA. Smithsonian National Museum of American History Behring Center. 2015
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2014. Arithmetic Teaching Apparatus. Smithsonian National Museum of American History Behring Center. 2014
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2013. Adders. Smithsonian National Museum of American History Behring Center. 2013
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2013. Adding Machines. Smithsonian National Museum of American History Behring Center. 2013
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2013. Bookkeeping Machines. Smithsonian National Museum of American History Behring Center. 2013
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2013. Calculating Machines. Smithsonian National Museum of American History Behring Center. 2013
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2013. Cash and Credit Registers. Smithsonian National Museum of American History Behring Center. 2013
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2013. Tabulating Equipment. Smithsonian National Museum of American History Behring Center. 2013
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2012. Counters. Smithsonian National Museum of American History Behring Center. 2012
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2012. Mathematical Paintings of Crockett Johnson. Smithsonian National Museum of American History Behring Center. 2012
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2012. Metric System Demonstration Apparatus. Smithsonian National Museum of American History Behring Center. 2012
- Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich. 2012. The Abacus and the Numeral Frame. Smithsonian National Museum of American History Behring Center. 2012
