A General History of Mathematics: from the Earliest Times, to the Middle of the Eighteenth Century

A General History Of Mathematics: From The Earliest Times, To The Middle Of The Eighteenth Century by Charles Bossut. This scholarly survey traces the development of arithmetic, geometry, mechanics, hydrodynamics, astronomy, optics, and acoustics from ancient origins toward the late classical and medieval periods, while situating mathematics within a broad cultural arc—from Egypt and Mesopotamia to Greece, the Arab/Persian world, and into Europe. It emphasizes cross-cultural transmission, instruments, and methods, and explains the author’s plan to present leading ideas and key figures without turning the work into a minute treatise. The book surveys how arithmetic moved from counting to abstract number representation, how geometry evolved from practical measurement to a rigorous deductive science, and how mechanics, hydrostatics, and astronomy interacted with mathematical ideas. It also foregrounds critical evaluation of antiquity claims and the transmission of knowledge across cultures. In its Part I sections and extensive contextual notes, the narrative blends historical narrative with analytic commentary, highlighting the unity of mathematical development across branches, cultures, and eras, and the role of experiments and instruments in shaping theory. The volume sets the stage for later 17th–18th century advances in fluxions, differential calculus, and the birth of modern analysis through collaboration and rivalry in European science.