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History of Mathematics: General Survey of the History of Elementary Mathematics v. 1 (Dover Books on Mathematics) by David Eugene Smith
Volume 1 of a two-volume history — from Egyptian papyri and medieval maps to modern graphs and diagrams. Non-technical chronological survey with thousands of biographical notes, critical evaluations, contemporary opinions on over 1,100 mathematicians.
Paperback
First published June 1, 1958
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About the author
David Eugene Smith
383 books9 followersDavid Eugene Smith was an American mathematician, educator, and editor.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
March 25, 2012
This is a GREAT book, though it wasn't exactly what I was expecting when I first bought it.
The book functions like an encyclopedia taking you from person to person and place to place throughout the history of mathematics. It's more of a who's who with a few gems scattered about (I've never forgetten Smith's assessment concerning George of Trebizond: "He was a quarrelsome man, of little honor to science, to letters, or to manners.").
From what I understand Vol. II is more focused on specific advancements in Mathematics, and how these discoveries came about. The first volume is still an excellent read, and will be thoroughly enjoyable for anyone who considers the mathematician to be just as noble a scientist as all the others we celebrate.
The book functions like an encyclopedia taking you from person to person and place to place throughout the history of mathematics. It's more of a who's who with a few gems scattered about (I've never forgetten Smith's assessment concerning George of Trebizond: "He was a quarrelsome man, of little honor to science, to letters, or to manners.").
From what I understand Vol. II is more focused on specific advancements in Mathematics, and how these discoveries came about. The first volume is still an excellent read, and will be thoroughly enjoyable for anyone who considers the mathematician to be just as noble a scientist as all the others we celebrate.
January 5, 2016
The beginning of this book was utterly fantastic, but once I hit the survey portion of Volume 1, the content dropped like a rock and I found myself back in the realm of dates and names ad nauseum. I'm looking forward to Volume 2, but I may need to take a little break first. I hope it gets away from the biographical surveys and back to the math and all its interrelations.
If any of you are curious about the book and looking for its strengths, I direct you to the section toward the start regarding pre-history and each culture's radix. There's such food for thought that I had to read it a paragraph at a time, savoring over each idea, letting them dissolve into my understanding. Brilliant stuff.
If any of you are curious about the book and looking for its strengths, I direct you to the section toward the start regarding pre-history and each culture's radix. There's such food for thought that I had to read it a paragraph at a time, savoring over each idea, letting them dissolve into my understanding. Brilliant stuff.
February 7, 2020
I love the History of Science and Mathematics, and this book was very interesting and chock full of a massive amount of information. I read it slowly over time. I will now proceed to volume two.
July 12, 2017
Phenomenal book! D.E. Smith brilliantly covered everything that you could possibly touch on in the history of math. This is my absolute favorite resource for math history.
December 26, 2014
An excellent reference book to learn about the history of different mathematical notations.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews