A Short Account of the History of Mathematics

"Aristotle, Galileo, Kepler, Newton -- you know the names, here's the book that will tell you what they really did. It covers in detail the historical development of mathematics and includes the early major theorists and their discoveries. The basis of arithmetic starts with the ancient Greeks, including Plato and the introduction of geometry in the method of analysis. The use of Arabic numerals brought math lightyears into the future, and was critical in the development of both commerce and science. The introduction of calculus helped make space travel possible, while the abacus was the precursor of the calculator. There is Leonardo da Vinci, whose fame as an artist has overshadowed his achievements as a mathematician; Pascal, who laid down the principles of the theory of probabilities; and Fermat and his intriguing theorem. Without these pioneers, our lives would be very different, because the growth of our society is interwoven with that of mathematics. And this is how it began. Book jacket."--BOOK JACKET.

This is the classic resource on the history of math providing a deeper understanding of the subject and how it has impacted our culture, all in one essential volume.
Only someone with the background of W.W. Rouse Ball could cover the origins of math with such breadth and expertise. Ball is the author of many respected textbooks and has worked with the foremost authorities in the field from all over Europe.
From the early Greek influences to the middle ages and the renaissance to the end of the 19th-century, trace the fascinating foundation of mathematics as it developed through the ages.