History of Mathematics
Highways and Byways
Published on 31. December 2009
Book
Hardback
342 pages
978-0-88385-562-1 (ISBN)
Description
This is a novel, short, and eminently readable history of mathematics. Many histories provide a chronological history of the entire subject, which can sometimes make it difficult to follow the development of a particular branch over time. Dahan-Delmmedico and Pfeiffer succeed splendidly in tracing each branch from its beginnings forward. They also give an outstanding account of how the Arabs not only preserved Greek mathematics, but extended it in the 800 year period from 400-1200. The large number of informative illustrations support the text and contribute to what is a great read.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Washington
United States
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 158 mm
Thickness: 23 mm
Weight
590 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-88385-562-1 (9780883855621)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Amy Dahan-Dalmedico is director of research at CNRS and assistant director of the Center Alexandre Koyre. Her research has focused on mathematics in the second half of the twentieth century and climate change. Jeanne Peiffer is a researcher at CNRS and editor-in-chief of the Journal of the History of Mathematics. Her research interests focus mainly on geometry and the connections with Renaissance art; in particular Albrecht Duerer. She has also written extensively about women in mathematics. Sanford Segal is the author of 44 journal articles in mathematics, the history of mathematics, or mathematical education and the author of two books. His main interest in recent years has been the history of mathematics. He was a professor of the mathematics department at the University of Rochester from 1977 to 2008.
Content
Translator's preface; 1. Landscapes; 2. A moment of rationality: Greece; 3. The constitution of classical algebra; 4. Figures, spaces, and geometries; 5. Limits: from the unconceived to the concept; 6. The concept of function and the development of analysis; 7. At the crossroads of algebra, analysis, and geometry: complex numbers; 8. New objects, new laws: the emergence of algebraic structures.