Amir Alexander teaches history at the University of California, Los Angeles. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Nature, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times. He is the author of four books, including Infinitesimal: How a Dangerous Mathematical Theory Shaped the Modern World and Proof! How the World Became Geometrical.
“Alexander’s important new book illuminates the geometrical premises and ideological implications of westward expansion and urban development, offering fresh perspectives on the conflicting and controversial ways Americans imagined their future and transformed the continent. Liberty’s Grid will provoke and inform ongoing debates about the pathways we are following—and the history we are inscribing—on our national landscape.” -- Peter S. Onuf, author of Jefferson’s Empire: The Language of American Nationhood “Anyone interested in the history or the geography of the United States will welcome Alexander’s novel perspective on the westward expansion of the US. Alexander’s emphasis on the geometry of the development of the landscape makes this compulsively readable book a necessary contribution to the literature of Indigenous resistance.” -- Michael Harris, author of Mathematics without Apologies: Portrait of a Problematic Vocation “This book opens an entirely unexpected window on the cultural history of mathematics and the role of mathematics in American history and culture. A highly rewarding read for mathematicians, historians and philosophers of mathematics, cultural historians, Americanists, and those who are interested in these subjects.” -- Arkady Plotnitsky, author of Logos and Alogon: Thinkable and the Unthinkable in Mathematics, from the Pythagoreans to the Moderns