dual personalities

This dual personality’s darling husband recently started a blog concerning his research on Joshua Kirby, an interesting (if minor) English artist. You can visit it here.You might wonder what a mathematician is doing studying an artist, but Kirby was famous for his treatise on perspective (see there is a math connection) and finagled a career at court out of it. William Hogarth’s famous false perspective engraving was the frontispiece for the book.

The subscription lists for the volume and its reprints also tell a fascinating story. Prosopography is so interesting! Being an excellent historian (in addition to being a brilliant mathematician), my spouse has immersed himself in the world of 18th century London and is sharing his discoveries via his blog. It’s good reading — go see for yourself!