The History of Mathematics: A Source-Based Approach (1) (AMS/MAA Textbooks, 45) - Hardcover

Barrow-Green, June; Gray, Jeremy; Wilson, Robin

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 147044352X ISBN 13: 9781470443528

Publisher: Maa Pr, 2019

Synopsis

The History of Mathematics: A Source-Based Approach is a comprehensive history of the development of mathematics. This, the first volume of the two-volume set, takes readers from the beginning of counting in prehistory to 1600 and the threshold of the discovery of calculus. It is notable for the extensive engagement with original primary and secondary source material. The coverage is worldwide, and embraces developments, including education, in Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, China, India, the Islamic world and Europe. The emphasis on astronomy and its historical relationship to mathematics is new, and the presentation of every topic is informed by the most recent scholarship in the field. The two-volume set was designed as a textbook for the authors' acclaimed year-long course at the Open University. It is, in addition to being an innovative and insightful textbook, an invaluable resource for students and scholars of the history of mathematics. The authors, each among the most distinguished mathematical historians in the world, have produced over fifty books and earned scholarly and expository prizes from the major mathematical societies of the English-speaking world.

About this title

About the Author

June Barrow-Green: The Open University, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom, Jeremy Gray: The Open University, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom, Robin Wilson: The Open University, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom

Review

The treatment of the history of mathematics in this text is extensive and authoritative, using up-to-date scholarship by the authors and other recognized experts in the field, and introduces the reader to a myriad of primary and secondary sources for each topic..It is important for students to engage directly with the mathematics itself as originally written if they are to get a good feel for the mathematics of another time and place. I also like the masterful way the source material is contextualized and explained. And I welcome the inclusion of alternative interpretations of a development, where they exist, and the book encouraging readers as 'joint explorers' to think through the evidence for each viewpoint...I believe it will be a wonderful resource for anyone teaching the history of mathematics, and, as such, it certainly belongs in every academic library. --Calvin Jongsma, MAA Reviews

Edition details

• Publisher: Maa Pr
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 147044352X
• ISBN 13: 9781470443528
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 488