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The History of Mathematics
Let author Joseph E. Hofmann take you on a journey through The History of Mathematics to uncover the stories of the great mathematicians and discoveries throughout the centuries. Follow Hofmann's compelling storytelling through the ages, back to the first practitioners all the way to Descartes, the development and calculus, and new discoveries in the beginning of the twentieth century. Joseph E. Hofmann was a German mathematician, historian, and professor who devoted his life to chronicling the history of mathematics. He was considered an expert on the study and history of calculus, on which he published several works. He taught at the top German universities throughout his life, including the Humboldt University of Berlin. His list of works includes Encyclopedia of Important Mathematicians and Writing the History of Mathematics.
- GenresMathematics
148 pages
First published January 1, 1957
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May 28, 2018
"We must mention...Andreas Tacquet...for his assiduous study, dealing chiefly with the cubature of the tori (1651, 1659)."
"In 1632, [Cavalieri] announced the modern method of computing the area of the spherical triangle; in 1639, he came out with the trigonometric treatment of quadratic equations and with the addition of logarithms."
This book is basically a list of major mathematical accomplishments up to the 1660's, or as Hoffman puts it, the Early Baroque Period, in under 150 pages. In that amount of space, there's really only so much that can be said. Hoffman does a nice job of including as much information as possible about major writings, including titles of various works and occasionally publishers, or at least publication locations. This is clearly limited to works written after the invention of the printing press.
Despite these limitations, Hoffman includes some of the best, most concise explanations for the books of Euclid's Elements that I have seen.
"Book II contains algebraic transformations, like the calculation of a(b+c)...in geometrical garb."
Book III is the theory of circles.
"Books VII-IX contain the simplest fundamental facts of the Pythagorean number theory."
While others may find these summaries unnecessary, I have found them quite helpful.
So, this book doesn't teach any math, but if you're looking for the original mathematicians or writing on a specific topic, this is a great resource!
"In 1632, [Cavalieri] announced the modern method of computing the area of the spherical triangle; in 1639, he came out with the trigonometric treatment of quadratic equations and with the addition of logarithms."
This book is basically a list of major mathematical accomplishments up to the 1660's, or as Hoffman puts it, the Early Baroque Period, in under 150 pages. In that amount of space, there's really only so much that can be said. Hoffman does a nice job of including as much information as possible about major writings, including titles of various works and occasionally publishers, or at least publication locations. This is clearly limited to works written after the invention of the printing press.
Despite these limitations, Hoffman includes some of the best, most concise explanations for the books of Euclid's Elements that I have seen.
"Book II contains algebraic transformations, like the calculation of a(b+c)...in geometrical garb."
Book III is the theory of circles.
"Books VII-IX contain the simplest fundamental facts of the Pythagorean number theory."
While others may find these summaries unnecessary, I have found them quite helpful.
So, this book doesn't teach any math, but if you're looking for the original mathematicians or writing on a specific topic, this is a great resource!
Displaying 1 of 1 review