Editing Mathematics Genealogy Project

{{Short description|Web-based database for the academic genealogy of mathematicians}}
{{Infobox website
| screenshot = Mathematics Genealogy Project screenshot.png
| caption = Home page, 2023
| website = {{URL|https://mathgenealogy.org/}}
| commercial = No
| type = academic genealogy
| language = English
| num_users = 
| owner = [[Minnesota State University]] (1997–2002)<br />[[North Dakota State University]] (2003–present)
| authors = [[Harry Coonce]]
| key_people = Mitchel T. Keller
| name = Mathematics Genealogy Project
| content_license = 
| launch_date = {{Start date and age|1997|10}}<ref name=MGP21 />
}}

The '''Mathematics Genealogy Project''' ('''MGP''') is a web-based [[database]] for the [[academic genealogy]] of [[mathematician]]s.<ref name="llmgp"/><ref name="che"/><ref name="focus">{{citation
 | last = Worth | first = Fred
 | issue = 8
 | journal = [[MAA FOCUS]]
 | pages = 40–41
 | title = A Report on the Mathematics Genealogy Project
 | url = http://www.maa.org/sites/default/files/pdf/pubs/nov06focus.pdf
 | volume = 26
 | year = 2006}}.</ref> {{As of|2023|12|1|post=,}} it contained information on 300,152 [[mathematical sciences|mathematical scientists]] who contributed to research-level mathematics. For a typical mathematician, the project entry includes graduation year, thesis title (in its [[Mathematics Subject Classification]]), ''[[alma mater]]'', [[doctoral advisor]], and doctoral students.<ref name="llmgp">{{citation
 | last = Jackson | first = Allyn
 | issue = 8
 | journal = [[Notices of the American Mathematical Society]]
 | pages = 1002–1003
 | title = A labor of love: the Mathematics Genealogy Project
 | url = https://www.ams.org/notices/200708/tx070801002p.pdf
 | volume = 54
 | year = 2007}}.</ref><ref>[https://www.mathgenealogy.org/ Mathematics Genealogy Project]</ref>

==Origin of the database==
The project grew out of founder [[Harry Coonce]]'s desire to know the name of his advisor's advisor.<ref name="llmgp"/><ref name="che">{{citation
 | last = Carr | first = Sarah
 | date = August 18, 1999
 | journal = [[The Chronicle of Higher Education]]
 | title = Retired Mathematician Develops a Family Tree of the Scholars in His Field
 | url = https://www.mathgenealogy.org/recog/chronicle/chronicle.html}}.</ref> Coonce was Professor of Mathematics at [[Minnesota State University, Mankato]], at the time of the project's founding, and the project went online there in the autumn of 1997.<ref name=MGP21>Mulcahy, Colm;  [https://www.ams.org/publications/journals/notices/201705/rnoti-p466.pdf The Mathematics Genealogy Project Comes of Age at Twenty-one] (PDF) AMS Notices (May 2017)</ref> Coonce retired from Mankato in 1999, and in the autumn of 2002 the university decided that it would no longer support the project. The project relocated at that time to [[North Dakota State University]]. Since 2003, the project has also operated under the auspices of the [[American Mathematical Society]] and in 2005 it received a grant from the [[Clay Mathematics Institute]].<ref name="llmgp"/><ref name="focus"/> Harry Coonce has been assisted by Mitchel T. Keller, Assistant Professor at [[Morningside University|Morningside College]]. Keller is currently the Managing Director of the project.<ref>[https://www.mathgenealogy.org/news.php MGP News]</ref>

==Mission and scope==
The Mathematics Genealogy Mission statement: "Throughout this project when we use the word '[[mathematics]]' or '[[mathematician]]' we mean that word in a very inclusive sense.<ref name=MGP21/> Thus, all relevant data from [[statistics]], [[computer science]], [[philosophy]] or [[operations research]] is welcome."<ref>[https://www.mathgenealogy.org/mission.php Mission Statement], The Mathematics Genealogy Project</ref>

The genealogy information is obtained from sources such as ''Dissertation Abstracts International'' and ''Notices of the American Mathematical Society'', but may be supplied by anyone via the project's website.<ref name="focus" /><ref>[https://www.mathgenealogy.org/faq.php#sources Where do you get your data?], Mathematics Genealogy FAQ, retrieved March 28, 2010.</ref> The searchable database contains the name of the mathematician, university which awarded the degree, year when the degree was awarded, title of the dissertation, names of the advisor and second advisor, a flag of the country where the degree was awarded, a listing of doctoral students, and a count of academic descendants.<ref name="llmgp" /> Some historically significant figures who lacked a doctoral degree are listed, notably [[Joseph-Louis Lagrange]] and [[Isaac Newton]].<ref>[https://www.mathgenealogy.org/id.php?id=17864 Joseph Lagrange], "We show a link to Euler to show a connection in our intellectual heritage. (hbc)", The Mathematics Genealogy Project</ref>

The oldest chronological entries in the project are [[Abu Sahl 'Isa ibn Yahya al-Masihi]] (who died c. 1010)<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Taghavi-Shirazi |first1=Maryam |last2=Ghods |first2=Roshanak |last3=Hashem-Dabaghian |first3=Fataneh |last4=Zargaran |first4=Arman |date=August 2020 |title=Abu-Sahl al-Masihi (died circa 1010 AD): The Persian physician in the early medieval era |url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29372642/ |journal=Journal of Medical Biography |volume=28 |issue=3 |pages=132–135 |doi=10.1177/0967772017720372 |issn=1758-1087 |pmid=29372642}}</ref> and his student [[Avicenna|Ibn Sina]], commonly known in the West as Avicenna. They each have, as of May 2024, more than 220,000 descendants in the genealogy.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Extrema - The Mathematics Genealogy Project |url=https://mathgenealogy.org/extrema.php |access-date=2024-05-15 |website=mathgenealogy.org}}</ref>

==Reliability and completeness==
It has been noted that "the data collected by the mathematics genealogy project are self-reported, so there is no guarantee that the observed genealogy network is a complete description of the mentorship network. In fact, 16,147 mathematicians do not have a recorded mentor, and of these, 8,336 do not have any recorded proteges."<ref name=Maimgren622626>{{cite journal |last1=Maimgren |first1=R. D. |last2=Ottino |first2=J. M. |last3=Amaral |first3=L. A. |year=2010 |title=The Role of Mentorship in Protege Performance |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |volume=465 |issue=7298 |pages=622–626 |doi=10.1038/nature09040 |pmid=20520715 |pmc=6697046 |arxiv=1006.2312 |bibcode=2010Natur.465..622M }}</ref> Maimgren, Ottino and Amaral (2010) stated that "for [mathematicians who graduated between 1900 and 1960] we believe that the graduation and mentorship record is the most reliable."<ref name=Maimgren622626 />

==See also==
*[[Neurotree, Academic Family Tree]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Wikidata property |1=P549}}
* {{Official website}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Projects established in 1997]]
[[Category:Internet properties established in 1997]]
[[Category:Mathematical projects]]
[[Category:Historiography of mathematics]]
[[Category:Mathematical databases]]