Learn about the boy who - could read and add numbers when he was three years old, - thwarted his teacher by finding a quick and easy way to sum the numbers 1-100, - attracted the attention of a Duke with his genius, and became the man who... - predicted the reappearance of a lost planet, - discovered basic properties of magnetic forces, - invented a surveying tool used by professionals until the invention of lasers. Based on extensive research of original and secondary sources, this historical narrative will inspire young readers and even curious adults with its touching story of personal achievement.
Carl Friedrich Gauss’s textbook, Disquisitiones arithmeticae, published in 1801 (Latin), remains to this day a true masterpiece of mathematical examination. .
Procreare iucundum, sed parturire molestum. (Gauss, sec. Eisenstein) The plan of this book was first conceived eight years ago. The manuscript developed slowly through several versions until it attained its present form in 1979. It would be inappropriate to list the names of all the friends and advisors with whom I discussed my various drafts but I should like to mention the name of Mr. Gary Cornell who, besides discussing with me numerous details of the manuscript, revised it stylistically. There is much interest among mathematicians to know more about Gauss's life, and the generous help I received has certainly more to do with this than with any individual, positive or negative, aspect of my manuscript. Any mistakes, errors of judgement, or other inadequacies are, of course, the author's responsi bility. The most incisive and, in a way, easiest decisions I had to make were those of personal taste in the choice and treatment of topics. Much had to be omitted or could only be discussed in a cursory way.
Why narrative is essential to mathematics Circles Disturbed brings together important thinkers in mathematics, history, and philosophy to explore the relationship between mathematics and narrative. The book's title recalls the last words of the great Greek mathematician Archimedes before he was slain by a Roman soldier—"Don't disturb my circles"—words that seem to refer to two radically different concerns: that of the practical person living in the concrete world of reality, and that of the theoretician lost in a world of abstraction. Stories and theorems are, in a sense, the natural languages of these two worlds—stories representing the way we act and interact, and theorems giving us pure thought, distilled from the hustle and bustle of reality. Yet, though the voices of stories and theorems seem totally different, they share profound connections and similarities. A book unlike any other, Circles Disturbed delves into topics such as the way in which historical and biographical narratives shape our understanding of mathematics and mathematicians, the development of "myths of origins" in mathematics, the structure and importance of mathematical dreams, the role of storytelling in the formation of mathematical intuitions, the ways mathematics helps us organize the way we think about narrative structure, and much more. In addition to the editors, the contributors are Amir Alexander, David Corfield, Peter Galison, Timothy Gowers, Michael Harris, David Herman, Federica La Nave, G.E.R. Lloyd, Uri Margolin, Colin McLarty, Jan Christoph Meister, Arkady Plotnitsky, and Bernard Teissier.
The Neumann Prize–winning, illustrated exploration of mathematics—from its timeless mysteries to its history of mind-boggling discoveries. Beginning millions of years ago with ancient “ant odometers” and moving through time to our modern-day quest for new dimensions, The Math Book covers 250 milestones in mathematical history. Among the numerous delights readers will learn about as they dip into this inviting anthology: cicada-generated prime numbers, magic squares from centuries ago, the discovery of pi and calculus, and the butterfly effect. Each topic is lavishly illustrated with colorful art, along with formulas and concepts, fascinating facts about scientists’ lives, and real-world applications of the theorems.
Plato's Ghost is the first book to examine the development of mathematics from 1880 to 1920 as a modernist transformation similar to those in art, literature, and music. Jeremy Gray traces the growth of mathematical modernism from its roots in problem solving and theory to its interactions with physics, philosophy, theology, psychology, and ideas about real and artificial languages. He shows how mathematics was popularized, and explains how mathematical modernism not only gave expression to the work of mathematicians and the professional image they sought to create for themselves, but how modernism also introduced deeper and ultimately unanswerable questions. Plato's Ghost evokes Yeats's lament that any claim to worldly perfection inevitably is proven wrong by the philosopher's ghost; Gray demonstrates how modernist mathematicians believed they had advanced further than anyone before them, only to make more profound mistakes. He tells for the first time the story of these ambitious and brilliant mathematicians, including Richard Dedekind, Henri Lebesgue, Henri Poincaré, and many others. He describes the lively debates surrounding novel objects, definitions, and proofs in mathematics arising from the use of naïve set theory and the revived axiomatic method—debates that spilled over into contemporary arguments in philosophy and the sciences and drove an upsurge of popular writing on mathematics. And he looks at mathematics after World War I, including the foundational crisis and mathematical Platonism. Plato's Ghost is essential reading for mathematicians and historians, and will appeal to anyone interested in the development of modern mathematics.
The elements of algebra were known to the ancient mesopotamians at least 4000 years ago. Today, algebra stands as one of the cornerstones of modern mathematics. How then did the subject evolve? An illuminating read for historians of mathematics and working algebraists looking into the history of their subject.
