Of Men and Numbers: The Story of the Great Mathematicians - Couverture souple

Muir, Jane

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 0486289737 ISBN 13 : 9780486289731

Editeur : Dover Publications Inc., 1996

Synopsis

While mathematics itself may be a formidable subject for many, the lives and accomplishments of history's greatest mathematicians -- from Pythagoras to Cantor -- offer fascinating reading.
In this delightful and informative recounting, for example, we learn how Pascal's life was abruptly changed by a family of fanatical bonesetters, how Descartes was influenced by three dreams, and how the scholarly Swiss Leonhard Euler (whose famous conjecture was finally disproved in 1959, after 177 years) almost ended up in the Russian navy.
Here, too, are Cardano, the gambler who becomes the 16th century's most fashionable doctor; Archimedes, Newton, and Gauss, often considered the three greatest mathematicians of all times; Lobatchevsky, the inventor of non-Euclidean geometry; and the tragic Galois, a founder of modern higher algebra.
In addition to a wealth of interesting and informative anecdotes, presented in a delightfully conversational style, the author offers lucid, accessible explanations of these thinkers' invaluable contributions to the edifice of modern mathematical thought and to man's understanding of himself and his universe.

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur

Of Men and Numbers, first published in 1963, is a fascinating look at the lives and works of history's greatest mathematicians. Beginning with the early Egyptians and Greeks such as Pythagoras, Euclid and Archimedes, author Jane Muir then describes, in non-technical terms, the discoveries and personal stories of math greats such as Descartes, Pascal, and Newton, and continues with the important work of more recent mathematicians such as Nicholas Lobatchevsky, Évariste Galois, and Georg Cantor. Illustrated throughout with line drawings and figures.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Dover Publications Inc.
• Date d'édition: 1996
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0486289737
• ISBN 13: 9780486289731
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 256
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: Soc. Agr. La Raia Ss; http://www.la-raia.it; ; Strada Monterotondo, 79; Novi Ligure; 15067; Italie