The Story of Mathematics - From Creating the Pyraminds to Exploring Infinity
By Anne Rooney
Arcturus Publishing Ltd | January 2012 | ISBN-10: 1841939404 | PDF | 208 pages | 48.5 mb
http://www.amazon.com/Story-Mathematics-Creating-Pyraminds-Exploring/dp/1841939404
Author Anne Rooney weaves strands from every age and culture into a fascinating narrative, which coincidentally tells the story of how mankind moved on from cave dwelling to the life of today. Topics include the development of counting and numbers systems, the emergence of zero, cultures that don't have numbers, algebra, solid geometry, symmetry and beauty, perspective, riddles and problems, calculus, mathematical logic, friction force and displacement, subatomic particles, and the expansion of the universe. Great mathematical thinkers covered include Napier, Liu Hui, Aryabhata, Galileo, Newton, Russell, Einstein, Riemann, Euclid, Carl Friedrich Gauss, Charles Babbage, Montmort, Wittgenstein, and many more. The book is beautifully illustrated throughout in full color.
About the Author
Anne Rooney has a PhD in medieval literature from Trinity College, Cambridge. She has written many books for adults and children on a variety of subjects, including science and history, and lives in Cambridge.
CONTENTS
Introduction: The Magic of Numbers 6
Chapter 1 Starting with numbers 8
Where do numbers come from? • Numbers and bases • 1tlore numbers, big and small
Chapter 2 Numbers put to work 34
Putting twO and tvo tObrether • Special numbers and sequences · Unspeakable numbers
Chapter 3 The shape ofthings 60
The mea~lJre of everything • Early breometry • Trigonometry
Chapter 4 In the round 92
Curves, circles and conics • Solid geometry • Seeing the world · Other worlds
Chapter 5 The magic formula 120
Algebra in the ancient world · The birth of albrebra • Writing equations • Algehra comes into its own • The world is neVer enough
Chapter 6 Grasping the infinite 144
Coming to termS with infinity . The emergence of calculus • Calculus and beyond
Chapter 7 Numbers at work and play 166
Cheer up, it may never happen · Samples and statistics · Statistical mathematics
Chapter 8 The death of numbers 186
Set theory • Getting fuzzy
Chapter 9 Proving it 194
Problems and proofs • Being logical • What Were we talking about?
Glossary 204
Index 206
