The art of bell ringing anticipated group theory, a mathematical discipline of great importance in current research.

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Tracing the history of mathematics takes us to unexpected places, in this case to the bell towers of 17th century England. At that time, groups of English bell ringers met regularly to practice the art of ringing bells. They set out to ring the bells of a belfry in all possible orders without repetition. The interest was such that several treatises were written about it, including “Tintinnology” by Richard Duckworth and Fabian Stedman. This problem anticipated a branch of mathematics called group theory.

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