David Bakker

Master's student in Mathematics and History and Philosophy of Science at Utrecht University.

From September onwards, I will be working on quantitative stochastic homogenization. I have worked on the history of analysis, primarily on Joseph Fourier.

My favourite mathematicians: Isaac Newton, Joseph Fourier.
Three other things I love: Brahms, cats and Apple Inc.

Research

2026—

Quantitative stochastic homogenization.
2025—

Joseph Fourier. His 1822 Théorie analytique de la chaleur and its historical context; his manuscripts at the Bibliothèque nationale.

Writing

2026

Geometrical Shape as a Cause. On Laplace's and Fourier's work on orthogonal decompositions, and Fourier's view that the modes so obtained belong to the shape of the body; a modern formalization of his function concept as martingale-consistent sequences on a-adic grids; and an exposition of the Mellin transform, culminating in a Fredholm theorem in the b-calculus.

Master's thesis, Utrecht University
2025

The Drawbridge Problem. A seventeenth-century calculus problem treated by l'Hôpital, Johann Bernoulli and Leibniz, including their reflections on how to solve mathematical problems.

Under review
2023–25

Three earlier papers: on the conflicts in Newton between algebra and the classical geometry; on the objectivity of mathematics; and on models of mollusc pigmentation.

Course papers, not intended for publication; listed as an indication of interests

Talks

Nov 2025

Joseph Fourier and the Accusations of Insufficient Rigor. 35th Novembertagung, Université de Lorraine, Nancy. Slides
Jun 2025

Newton Versus Descartes on the Exactness of Mathematics. Masterclass in the Philosophy of Mathematical Practices, VUB, Brussels. Slides·Handout

Education

2023–26

Utrecht University. Two MSc degrees: Mathematics, and History and Philosophy of Science.
2020–23

Delft University of Technology. BSc in Applied Mathematics.

Miscellaneous

My Substack where I somtetimes write about mathematics, its history and philosophy.
I collect quotes.
Visualizers of geometric multiplication and of the exponential function.