This invaluable resource will guide general readers, as well as students, through the often bewildering maze of equations and theorems encountered within the mathematical world. Providing succinct definitions and clear explanations to a wealth of terms, A Concise Oxford Dictionary of Mathematics also enables readers to make new discoveries as they browse and check cross-references. Along with serving as a trustworthy guide to the concepts and terminology of all those topics covered in pure mathematics courses today, it also contains entries on mathematics of more general interest and short biographical sketches of the great mathematicians. Explanatory figures and diagrams complement the text, making this reference volume all the more indispensable.
If you want to buy this dictionary, don't buy the 4th edition. There is a newer edition (currently the 5th edition is the newest edition). The 4th edition is not comprehensive enough and leaves out these terms: • arity • class (of x), written as [x] • commutativity (of maps) • determinant (from the quadratic formula: b^2-4ac) • endomorphism • functor • idempotent • kernel / null space (but 'nullity' is defined) • kernel equivalence • level curve/surface (f(x, y, z) = a constant) • magma/groupoid • monoid • monomorphism • nabla (although 'gradient (grad)' is defined as the vector obtained by applying the del operator) • natural map / canonical map (π : X→X/E) • similar matrices (If Q^(-1) A Q = B then A and B are similar) • simply-connected region • standard basis (although the equivalent term 'canonical basis' is included) • standard product • uniform convergence