An Introduction to Mathematics (Dover Books on Mathematics) - Softcover

Whitehead, Alfred North

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9780486813660: An Introduction to Mathematics (Dover Books on Mathematics)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0486813665 ISBN 13: 9780486813660

Publisher: Dover Publications, 2017

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"The object of the following chapters is not to teach mathematics, but to enable students from the very beginning of their course to know what the science is about, and why it is necessarily the foundation of exact thought as applied to natural phenomena." Thus begins this volume by the prominent English philosopher and mathematician Alfred North Whitehead, a concise statement on the nature and meaning of mathematics for the general student. Expertly written and abounding in insights, the book presents a lively exposition of mathematical concepts, the history of their development, and their applications to the physical world.
Whitehead explains in broad terms what mathematics is about, what it does, and how mathematicians do it.Generations of readers who have stayed with the philosopher from the beginning to the end have found themselves amply rewarded for taking this journey. As The New York Times observed decades ago, "Whitehead doesn't popularize or make palatable; he is simply lucid and cogent ... A finely balanced mixture of knowledge and urbanity .... Should delight you."

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From the Back Cover:

This distinguished little book offers a brisk introduction to a series of mathematical concepts, a history of their development, and a concise summary of how today's reader may use them.

About the Author:

Alfred North Whitehead (1861–1947) studied at Trinity College, Cambridge, and taught mathematics there for 16 years, afterward teaching math at University College, London, and the Imperial College of Science and Technology and serving as an instructor in philosophy at Harvard University. Whitehead wrote many books on science, mathematics, and philosophy; between 1910–13 he completed, with Bertrand Russell, his greatest mathematical work, Principia Mathematica.

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