 Historians of mathematics are now attempting to apply such historiographical approaches also to pure mathematics. A recent attempt in this direction is the work of Epple in terms of ‘epistemic configurations’ such as his recent article on Alexander and Reidemeister’s early work in knot theory (Epple 2004; but see also Rowe 2003 and 2004, and Epple 2011). The support groups for such investigations are not referred to as ‘schools’ but rather as ‘mathematical traditions’ or ‘mathematical cultures’.