Professor Julia Tomasson is a historian of premodern science, technology, and mathematics. In both her research and teaching, Tomasson is interested in the surprising histories of concepts we take for granted—such as evidence, proof, and reasonableness—and how ideas and practices of knowledge have changed across times and cultures. Tomasson holds an A.B from the University of Chicago in History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Science and Medicine (HiPSS) and a M.A., M.Phil., and Ph.D. in History from Columbia University in New York.

Tomasson is currently working on her first book project, Polygons and Polyphony: Arabic Mathematics after the Golden Age, which explores troves of previously dismissed Arabic mathematical manuscripts in the context of lived traditions of Islamic logic and local epistemic cultures. Rather than imposing Greek or modern ideals of logic and mathematics, Tomasson traces the creative practices of reading, constructing, and critiquing mathematical proofs across different “cultures of proof.” Polygons and Polyphony tells not only a global history of mathematics that takes the interplay of different concepts of rationality seriously but also offers a new account of one of the most contested transmission histories in the history of science—the evolution and transfer of knowledge from Greek Antiquity to the “Golden Age” of Islam to the European “Scientific Revolution.”

Professor Tomasson is happy to oversee independent studies, honors theses, and mentored research opportunities through the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Program (MMUF) and Rice Undergraduate Scholars Program (RUSP). Tomasson also welcomes inquiries from graduate students (current and prospective) interested broadly in any of her methodological, temporal, or geographic foci.

AY 2026-2027 Courses

Cuneiform to Coding: A History of Information (HIST 265; Fall 2026)
“The Scientific Revolution”: Knowing & Changing the World, 1450-1750 (FWIS; Fall 2026)
Early History of Science (HIST 260; Spring 2027)
Prove it: A History of Mathematics (Spring 2027)

Spring 2026 Courses:

HIST 260: Early History of Science