Dr. Michael Friedman

Michael Friedman is a Senior Lecturer at the Cohn Institute For History And Philosophy of Science And Ideas at Tel Aviv University.
As a Mathematician, Historian of Mathematics, and scholar of Philosophy, he contributes as an Associated Investigator to the Cluster projects Symbolic Material and Weaving. The focus of his research is on how material, visual and symbolical knowledge interact with each other.
He is currently working on the diverse traditions of Mathematics of the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. In this context, he looks into the material practices of Mathematics (folding, weaving, braiding, knotting, as well as 3D models) and how symbolical-mathematical knowledge was prompted by them. Another focus of his research are the various scientific instruments, used to visualize, and at the same time to enable mathematical knowledge.
The Cohn Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Ideas
Humanities Faculty
Tel Aviv University
Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv 6997801
History of Active Matter, History of Mathematics, Philosophy of Mathematics
Psychoanalysis
Monographs & Books
Friedman, M. 2023. On Joachim Jungius’ Texturæ Contemplatio. Cham: Springer International Publishing.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-40881-6
Friedman, M. 2022. Ramified Surfaces. On Branch Curves and Algebraic Geometry in the 20th Century. Springer International Publishing.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-05720-5
Friedman, M. 2018. A History of Folding in Mathematics: Mathematizing the Margins. Science Networks. Historical Studies, 59, Basel: Birkhäuser.
https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-72487-4#toc
Edited Volumes & Exhibition Catalogues
Friedman, M., Krauthausen, K. eds. 2022. Model and Mathematics: From the 19th to the 21st Century. Cham: Birkhäuser.
https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-97833-4
Friedman, M., Seppi, A. eds. 2022. Grenzen der Formalisierung. Von Leibniz bis Lacan. Leipzig: Spector Books.
Fratzl, P., Friedman, M., Krauthausen, K., Schäffner, W. eds. 2021. Active Materials. De Gruyter STEM. Berlin: De Gruyter.
https://www.degruyter.com/document/isbn/9783110562064/html
Friedman, M., Seppi, A. eds. 2017. Martin Heidegger: Die Falte der Sprache. Wien; Berlin: Turia + Kant.
Friedman, M., Schäffner, W. eds. 2016. On Folding: Towards a New Field of Interdisciplinary Research. Bielefeld: transcript.
https://doi.org/10.14361/9783839434048
Articles in Edited Volumes
Friedman, M., Krauthausen, K., Evans, M. 2022. »Interview with Myfanwy Evans: Entanglements on and Models of Periodic Minimal Surfaces.« In Model and Mathematics: From the 19th to the 21st Century, edited by Friedman, M., Krauthausen, K. Cham: Birkhäuser, 255-266.
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-97833-4_7
Friedman, M., Krauthausen, K., Hashagen, U. 2022. »Interview with Ulf Hashagen: Exhibitions and Mathematical Models in the 19th an 20th Centuries.« In Model and Mathematics: From the 19th to the 21st Century, edited by Friedman, M., Krauthausen, K. Cham: Birkhäuser, 403-430.
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-97833-4_14
Friedman, M., Krauthausen, K., Matt, A. D. 2022. »Interview with Andreas Daniel Matt: Real-Time Mathematics.« In Model and Mathematics: From the 19th to the 21st Century, edited by Friedman, M., Krauthausen, K. Cham: Birkhäuser, 431-445.
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-97833-4_15
Friedman, M., Krauthausen, K., Sattelmacher, A. 2022. »Interview with Anja Sattelmacher: Between Viewing and Touching – Models and Their Materiality.« In Model and Mathematics: From the 19th to the 21st Century, edited by Friedman, M., Krauthausen, K. Cham: Birkhäuser, 381-401.
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-97833-4_13
Friedman, M., Krauthausen, K. 2022. »How to Grasp an Abstraction: Mathematical Models and Their Vicissitudes Between 1830 and 1950.« In Model and Mathematics: From the 19th to the 21st Century, edited by Friedman, M., Krauthausen, K. Cham: Birkhäuser, 1-49.
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-97833-4_1
Aizenberg, J., Friedman, M., Krauthausen, K. 2021. »On Responsive and Adaptive Materials.« In Active Materials, edited by Fratzl, P, Friedman, M., Krauthausen, K., Schäffner, W. Berlin: De Gruyter, 79-94.
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110562064-004
Correll, N., Friedman, M., Krauthausen, K. 2021. »Interview with Nikolaus Correll: Robotic Materials.« In Active Materials, edited by Fratzl, P., Friedman, M., Krauthausen, K., Schäffner, W. Berlin: De Gruyter, 175-192.
https://www.degruyter.com/document/isbn/9783110562064/html
Friedman, M., Golestanian, R., Krauthausen, K. 2021. »Interview with Ramin Golestanian: Living Matter, or What Is Life?« De Gruyter, 157.
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110562064-009
Friedman, M., Joanny, F., Krauthausen, K. 2021. »Interview with Jean-François Joanny: Activity, Instabilities, and Defects.« In Active Materials, edited by Fratzl, P., Friedman, M., Krauthausen, K., Schäffner, W. Berlin: De Gruyter, 117-130.
Friedman, M., Krauthausen, K., Mazzolai, B. 2021. »Interview with Barbara Mazzolai: Plants, Plantoids, and Active Materials.« In Active Materials, edited by Fratzl, P., Friedman, M., Krauthausen, K., Schäffner, W. Berlin: De Gruyter, 131-146.
https://www.degruyter.com/document/isbn/9783110562064/html
Friedman, M., Krauthausen, K., Shepherd, R. 2021. »Interview with Robert Shepherd: on Soft Robots, Biomimetics, and Beyond.« In Active Materials, edited by Fratzl, P., Friedman, M., Krauthausen, K., Schäffner, W. Berlin: De Gruyter, 147-158.
https://www.degruyter.com/document/isbn/9783110562064/html
Friedman, M., Krauthausen, K., Speck, T. 2021. »Interview with Thomas Speck: »You Don't Want to Build an Oak Tree – you Want to Invent it.« Plants as Active Matter.« In Active Materials, edited by Fratzl, P., Friedman, M., Krauthausen, K., Schäffner, W. Berlin: De Gruyter, 57-78.
Friedman, M., Krauthausen, K. 2021. »Materials Matter: Introduction.« In Active Materials, edited by Fratzl, P., Friedman, M., Krauthausen, K., Schäffner, W. Berlin: De Gruyter, 3-36.
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110562064-001
Friedman, M. 2021. »Sempers Hütte und die Grenzen der Mathematik.« In Modelle Hütte. Von emergenten Strukturen, schützender Haut und gebauter Umwelt, edited by Krauthausen, K., Ladewig, R. Diaphanes, 385-410.
Friedman, M. 2020. »Baroquian Folds: Leibniz on Folded Fabrics and the Disruption of Geometry.« In Handbook of the Mathematics of the Arts and Sciences, edited by Sriraman, B. Cham: Springer, 1-28.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-70658-0_93-1
Friedman, M. 2020. »Bilder der Mathematik. Von Maschine und Architektur zu Organismus und Milieu.« In Milieu Fragmente: Technologische und ästhetische Perspektiven, edited by Ladewig, R., Seppi, A. Leipzig: Spector Books, 284-302.
Friedman, M. 2020. »Klee, Laban, Schlemmer, Marey: Four conceptions of movement in the 1920s.« In Digital Klee – Pedagogical Sketchbook – An Inquiry Into The Future Of Form, edited by Braun, P. Dijon: Les presses du reel, 56-74.
https://www.lespressesdureel.com/EN/ouvrage.php?id=8127&menu=4#
Krauthausen, K., Friedman, M. 2020. »Active Matter.« In Materials Research: Inspired by Nature. Innovation Potential of Biologically Inspired Materials, edited by Fratzl, P., Jacobs, K., Möller, M., Scheibel, T., Sternberg, K. acatech DISKUSSION. München: utzverlag, 80-81.
https://en.acatech.de/publication/materials-research/
Friedman, M., Krauthausen, K. 2019. »Aktive Materie.« In Materialforschung: Impulsgeber Natur. Innovationspotenzial biologisch inspirierter Materialien und Werkstoffe, edited by Fratzl, P., Jacobs, K., Möller, M., Scheibel, T., Sternberg, K. acatech DISKUSSION. München: utzverlag, 84–86.
https://www.acatech.de/publikation/materialforschung-impulsgeber-natur/
Friedman, M. 2019. »Coloring the Fourth Dimension? Coloring Polytopes and Complex Curves at the End of the Nineteenth Century.« In Science in Color: Visualizing Achromatic Knowlegde, edited by Bock von Wülfingen, B. Berlin: De Gruyter, 81-97.
Katan-Schmid, E., Friedman, M. 2019. »Questioning dance notation: a dialogue.« In Du signe à la performance - La notation, une pensée en mouvement, edited by Journeau, V. A. Paris: Editions L'Harmattan, 405-433.
Friedman, M., Krausse, J. 2016. »Folding and Geometry: Buckminster Fuller’s Provocation of Thinking.« In On Folding: Towards a new Field of Interdisciplinary Research, edited by Friedman, M., Schäffner, W. Bielefeld: transcript Verlag, 139-174.
https://doi.org/10.14361/9783839434048-toc
Friedman, M., Schäffner, W. 2016. »On Folding: Introduction of a New Field of Interdisciplinary Research.« In On Folding: Towards a New Field of Interdisciplinary Research, edited by Friedman, M., Schäffner, W. Bielefeld: transcript, 7–30.
Articles
Friedman, M., Krauthausen, K., 2023. »On the Agency and Activity of Materials in the 21st Century.« In From Bacteria to Gaia: Levels of Biological Agency, special issue. Spontaneous Generations, 11 (1)
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/63c0bc7dd96a9d4c120951fb/t/64f0e7ce49d9a80ab7ba928b/1693509583563/Friedman+%26+Krauthausen+Article.pdf
Friedman, M. 2023. »Leibniz and the Stocking Frame: Computation, Weaving and Knitting in the 17th Century.« Minds and Machines, February
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11023-023-09623-3
Friedman, M. 2022. »Joachim Jungius and the Transfer of Knowledge from Weaving to Mathematics in the 17th Century.« Cahiers François Viète, III-13: 43-82.
https://doi.org/10.4000/cahierscfv.3579
Friedman, M. 2022. »Metaphorical reactions in 1932: from the mathematical ›crisis of intuition‹ to ›reconstruction in the exact sciences‹.« British Journal for the History of Mathematics. 1.
https://doi.org/10.1080/26375451.2022.2052631
Friedman, M., Muñoz Alvis, J. 2021. »Haüy, Weiß, Fröbel: the influence of nineteenth-century crystallography on the mathematics of Friedrich Fröbel’s kindergarten. Part 1: the published materials.« Paedagogica Historica. 1-21.
https://doi.org/10.1080/00309230.2020.1865424
Friedman, M., Muñoz Alvis, J. 2021. »Haüy, Weiß, Fröbel: the influence of nineteenth-century crystallography on the mathematics of Friedrich Fröbel’s Kindergarten. Part 2: new evidence from unpublished notes.« Paedagogica Historica. 1-21.
https://doi.org/10.1080/00309230.2021.1876744
Friedman, M. 2021. »On Mascheroni's La geometria del compasso at the beginning of the 19th century.« Historia Mathematica, 57: 55-79.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hm.2021.05.002
Friedman, M. 2021. »On Mathematical Towers of Babel and ›Translation‹ as an Epistemic Category.« The Mathematical Intelligencer, 43: 62–73.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00283-020-09969-x
Friedman, M. 2021. »Paper, plaster, strings: Exploratory material mathematical models between the 1860s and 1930s.« Perspectives on Science, 29 (4): 436-467.
Friedman, M., Rittberg, C. 2019. »The material reasoning of folding paper.« Synthese.
Friedman, M., Rittberg, C. J. 2019. »The material reasoning of folding paper.« Synthese.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-019-02131-x
Friedman, M. 2019. »A plurality of (non-)visualizations: Branch points and branch curves at the turn of the 19th century.« Revue d’histoire des mathématiques, 25 (1): 109–194.
https://doi.org/10.24033/rhm.224
Friedman, M. 2019. »How to notate a crossing of strings? On Modesto Dedò’s notation of braids.« Archive for History of Exact Sciences, 74 (4): 281-312.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00407-019-00238-8
Friedman, M. 2019. »Mathematical formalization and diagrammatic reasoning: the case study of the braid group between 1925 and 1950.« British Journal for the History of Mathematics, 34 (1): 43-59.
https://doi.org/10.1080/17498430.2018.1533298
Friedman, M., Lehman, R., Leyenson, M., Teicher, M. 2012. »On ramified covers of the projective plane II: Generalizing Segre's theory.« Journal of the European Mathematical Society, 14 (3): 971.
Friedman, M., Leyenson, M., Shustin, E. 2011. »On ramified covers of the projective plane I: Interpreting SEGRE's theory (with an appendix by Eugenii Shustin).« International Journal of Mathematics, 22 (5): 619.
Conference Proceedings
Friedman, M. 2020. »Friedrich Fröbel’s conception of crystallography and the mathematical education at the 19th century kindergartens.« Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on the History of Mathematics Education, Barbin, E., Bjarnadóttir, K., Furinghetti, F., Karp, A., Moussard, G., Prytz, J., Schubring, G. (Eds). WTM-Verlag, 303–316.
https://doi.org/10.37626/GA9783959871686.0
Talks & Presentations
Friedman, M., Krauthausen, K. Model and Mathematics at the End of the 19th Century: Between Materiality and Representation. Talk at the SLSAeu23: Models, Metaphors and Simulations, ELINAS Center for Literature and Natural Science, Erlangen. 18 May 2023.
Friedman, Michael, Krauthausen, Karin, »Active Materials«. Talk at the Technical University of Darmstadt (ZOOM with Berlin). Talk on active materials and the research presented in »Active Materials« (eds. Peter Fratzl, Michael Friedman, Karin Krauthausen, Wolfgang Schäffner). In the frame of the seminar on BioRobotics by Marco Tamborini. Hybrid. 14 June 2022.
Friedman, M. Medieval Hebrew mathematical manuscripts left in mediis rebus. Talk at the Seminar »Histoire des sciences, histoire du texte«, Université de Paris, France. Virtual. 7 May 2021.
Friedman, M. Towards a critical edition of Ḥibbur ha-Meshiḥah ve-ha-Tishboret. Talk at the Meeting of the SFB »Episteme in Bewegung«, Freie Universität Berlin. Virtual. 8 May 2021.
Friedman, M. Changes of the Architectural Metaphor in Mathematics during the 19th and the 20th century. Talk at the Conference »Architecture_Metaphor«, LOEWE Research Cluster Architectures of Order, Frankfurt am Main. Virtual. 6 November 2020.
Friedman, M. How to notate a crossing of a braid? Notation as epistemic and/or as a hindrance. Talk at the APMP Fifth International Meeting, Zurich. 18 January 2020.
Friedman, M. Material models of braids: Exploration with materiality as a dead end? Talk at the Workshop »Exploratory Modelling and Exploratory Models in Science«, Technische Universität Berlin. Virtual. 19 November 2020.
Friedman, M. Metaphorical reactions to the »crisis of intuition«. Talk at the Joint Conference of the British Society for the History of Mathematics and the Canadian Society for History and Philosophy of Mathematics »Mathematics in Times of Crisis«. Virtual. 6 July 2020.
Friedman, M. Braids in Germany and Italy in the 20th century: material practices of strings. Talk at the Institute of Mathematics, University of Rostock. 22 March 2019.
Friedman, M. Duality and the implicit introduction of ramification curves between 1830 and 1860. Talk at the CIRM, Marseille. 6 May 2019.
Friedman, M. Friedrich Fröbel’s crystallography and the mathematical education at the 19th century Kindergartens. Talk at the Sixth International Conference on the History of Mathematics Education, CIRM, Marseille, France. 16 September 2019.
Friedman, M. Heterogeneous mathematical practices: Complementing or translation? Talk at the 16th International Congress on Logic, Methodology and Philosophy of Science and Technology, Czech Technical University, Prague. 6 August 2019.
Friedman, M. On branch points and branch curves at the turn of the 19th century. Talk at the Pitzer College, Claremont, California. 2 December 2019.
Friedman, M. On narratives regarding mathematics and the concept of »translation«. Talk at the Workshop »Narrative and Mathematical Argument«, London School of Economics. 28 September 2019.
Friedman, M. On visualizations and non-visualizations of branch points and curves. Talk at the Centre Atlantique de Philosophie, Université de Nantes, France. 22 November 2019.
Friedman, M. The Activity of Folding: Perspectives from Mathematics, Art, and Material Research. Talk at the weißensee school of art and design berlin. weißensee school of art and design berlin. 28 May 2019.
Friedman, M. The hidden role of the editor: The influence of D.E. Smith on the (history of the) mathematics of folding. Talk at the Université Paris VII – Denis Diderot, France. 9 January 2019.
Friedman, M. Where to place a diagram? The case study of “Treatise on Measurement and Calculation” and its various translations. Talk at the the ESHS 1st Young Scholars Conference, Paris Observatory, Paris. 11 September 2019.
Events & Workshops
Friedman, M., Zetti, D. Paper(s) as Epistemic Carrier of Knowledge. Deutsches Museum München. In cooperation with the Cluster of Excellence »Matters of Activity. Image Space Material« at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Cohn Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Ideas, Tel Aviv University, History of Technology at Technical University Munich. 22 February 2023 - 23 February 2023.
https://www.mcts.tum.de/research/papers-as-epistemic-carrier-of-knowledge/
Friedman, Michael, Krauthausen, Karin, »Materials Matter«. Humboldt Labor, Seminar Room. Workshop with lectures of Bernadette Bensaude-Vincent, Thomas Speck, Peter Fratzl and Wolfgang Schäffner, a commentary of Christian Reiß and an introduction of the organizers (Michael Friedman and Karin Krauthausen). 5 May 2022.
https://www.matters-of-activity.de/en/activities/7782/materials-matter
Friedman, Michael, Krauthausen, Karin, »Perspectives on Materials«. Humboldt Labor in the Humboldt Forum Berlin. A conversation between Bernadette Bensaude-Vincent, Michaela Eder, Peter Fratzl, Richard Weinkamer and the organizers and moderators Michael Friedman and Karin Krauthausen. The panel discussion is meant as a public kick-off for the workshop »Material Matters«. 4 May 2022 - 4 September 2022.
https://www.matters-of-activity.de/en/activities/7782/materials-matter
Friedman, M., Tomšič, S. On Activity II: Space and Materiality. Cluster of Excellence »Matters of Activity«, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Cluster of Excellence Matters of Activity, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Virtual. 19 March 2021.
https://www.matters-of-activity.de/en/activities/3760/on-activity-ii-space-and-materiality
Friedman, M., Krauthausen, K. On Activity. Cluster of Excellence Matters of Activity, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. 7 February 2020.
https://www.matters-of-activity.de/en/activities/1240/on-activity
Friedman, M. Past and Present in Mathematical Weaving. Cluster of Excellence Matters of Activity, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Virtual. 25 September 2020.
https://www.matters-of-activity.de/de/activities/2241/past-and-present-in-mathematical-weaving
Podcasts & Videos
Friedman, M., Krauthausen, K. (organizers and moderators), Eder, M., Fratzl, P., Weinkamer, R. (guests), Sattler, M. (author of audio version). Materials Matter – Perspectives on Active Materials. (Audio Broadcast). Audio. 29 minutes, 13 January 2023.
https://www.matters-of-activity.de/en/activities/9682/materials-matter-perspectives-on-active-materials