Mathematics and Its History
From the reviews of the first edition: "There are many books on the history of mathematics in which mathematics is subordinated to history. This is a book in which history is definitely subordinated to mathematics. It can be described as a collection of critical historical essays dealing with a large variety of mathematical disciplines and issues, and intended for a broad audience ... we know of no book on mathematics and its history that covers half as much nonstandard material. Even when dealing with standard material, Stillwell manages to dramatize it and to make it worth rethinking. In short, his book is a splendid addition to the genre of works that build royal roads to mathematical culture for the many." (Mathematical Intelligencer) "The discussion is at a deep enough level that I suspect most trained mathematicians will find much that they do not know, as well as good intuitive explanations of familiar facts. The careful exposition, lightness of touch, and the absence of technicalities should make the book accessible to most senior undergraduates." (American Mathematical Monthly) " ... The book is a treasure, which deserves wide adoption as a text and much consultation by historians and mathematicians alike." (Physis - Revista Internazionale di Storia della Scienza) "A beautiful little book, certain to be treasured by several generations of mathematics lovers, by students and teachers so enlightened as to think of mathematics not as a forest of technical details but as the beautiful coherent creation of a richly diverse population of extraordinary people ... His writing is so luminous as to engage the interest of utter novices, yet so dense with particulars as to stimulate the imagination of professionals." (Book News, Inc.) This second edition includes new chapters on Chinese and Indian number theory, on hypercomplex numbers, and on algebraic number theory. Many more exercises have been added, as well as commentary to the exercises expalining how they relate to the preceding section, and how they foreshadow later topics. The index has been given added structure to make searching easier, the references have been redone, and hundreds of minor improvements have been made throughout the text
eBook, English, 2002
Second edition View all formats and editions
Springer New York, New York, NY, 2002
1 online resource (xviii, 542 pages 181 illustrations).
9781468492811, 9780387953366, 1468492810, 0387953361
853258450
Print version:
The Theorem of Pythagoras
Greek Geometry
Greek Number Theory
Infinity in Greek Mathematics
Number Theory in Asia
Polynomial Equations
Analytic Geometry
Projective Geometry
Calculus
Infinite Series
The Revival of Number Theory
Elliptic Functions
Mechanics
Complex Numbers in Algebra
Complex Numbers and Curves
Complex Numbers and Functions
Differential Geometry
Noneuclidean Geometry
Group Theory
Hypercomplex Numbers
Algebraic Number Theory
Topology
Sets, Logic, and Computation
Bibliography
Index