Math through the Ages: A Gentle History for Teachers and Others

by William P. Berlinghoff, Fernando Q. Gouvêa

Where did maths come from? Who thought up all those algebra symbols, and why? What's the story behind … negative numbers? … the metric system? … quadratic equations? … sine and cosine? The 25 independent sketches in Math through the Ages answer these questions and many others in an informal, easygoing style that's accessible to teachers, students, and anyone who is curious about the history of mathematical ideas. Each sketch contains Questions and Projects to help you learn more about its topic and to see how its main ideas fit into the bigger picture of history. The 25 short stories are preceded by a 56-page bird's-eye overview of the entire panorama of mathematical history, a whirlwind tour of the most important people, events, and trends that shaped the mathematics we know today. Reading suggestions after each sketch provide starting points for readers who want to pursue a topic further.

Genres: Mathematics, History, Nonfiction, Textbooks, School

284 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 2002

Reviews

[Laurent Franckx · Rating 4 out of 5]

(I read the book in its Dutch translation)
I really love the history of thought, and especially how it shows how knowledge or approaches we now take for granted took centuries to develop. For instance, everyone has learned in secondary school how to solve quadratic equations, but until the 17th century, mathematicians used verbal and geometric methods to solve them - and imaginary numbers were "discovered" with those methods. We have learned to define derivatives as limits, but the concept of limits was developed more than 2 centuries after the concept of derivatives- and the way Newton, Leibniz and Euler used derivatives would now be considered as extremely sloppy. This book is absolutely fascinating, and it is perfectly accessible with secondary school maths (the only chapter that I didn't find clear is the one on the development of logarithms).

[Kate McLaughlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I keep renewing this one at the library. (I can't beleive no one has put a hold on it!). Pretty interesting stuff. For example, the struggle of the negative number to be accepted. It took hundreds of years! (many coiled ropes as the ancient Egyptians would write, but that was lotus flowers ago). People, really smart ones too, could work them in problems, but still could not grasp the idea of a quantity less than nothing... might as well have imaginary numbers.
Umm, is that snoring I hear? Hey, wake up, we're talking about MATH!!!!!

[Willem Hoekstra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mooie bundel Schetsen over de ontwikkeling van wiskundige ontdekkingen door de eeuwen heen, waarmee ik mijn eerder hap snap opgedane kennis over de geschiedenis van de wiskunde heb kunnen ordenen en aanvullen.
Niet echt bedoeld om van kaft tot kaft te lezen, gezien de grote hoeveelheid herhalingen in de verschillende Schetsen.
Fijn vertaald 😁

[Valerie Hazelwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

As far as a book about the history of Math, I actually learned quite a bit!

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

The collection of sketches on mathematical history contained in this book were, for the most part, interesting to read. Many of them provoked additional thoughts or drove me to look up new sources, which I believe is the point of a book like this. While reading the book for a class, I was continually struck by two concepts: 1) the development of the vast majority of mathematical ideas is firmly rooted in the practical and 2) the algorithms we use for calculation, be they arithmetic or algebraic, are firmly rooted in the culture we find ourselves in. Overall, the book was a pleasant read that provided a good primer to the historical context of mathematics.

[Lillian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great overview, not too heavy, and fed to you in short chapters on widely varying topics. It includes some problems and projects to further investigate at the end of each chapter. Great for teachers. This may be inspiring to me for programs or just outreach to people facing math homework.

[Rebecca Dibbs · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is ok for what it is...a shallow overview of math history I can use for my el ed majors class

[Thomas Bell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting book. The author does a very good job making it interesting and pulling in a lot of very interesting facts into the book.

I am a little confused sometimes the way the author organizes the sketches, so I read them, and had my class read them, in my own order rather than the order given in the book.

Anyway, my class and I all really loved this book.

[Zach · Rating 5 out of 5]

really good for 'teachers and others'... I read this in prep for a math and science teaching class, the book was really easy read and has HUGE amounts of references for anyone looking to learn more about specific subjects.

Highly recommend.

[* ^ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting book on the history of mathematic. It is not super deep but provide a good overview of the subject.

[Valleri · Rating 4 out of 5]

The origins of mathematics revealed. This was a fascinating read, though it was a little dry. What can one expect from a book about math?

[Rebekah Sturgill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Incredibly helpful (and gentle) history of mathematics. I've been using the sketches in my classroom to go deeper into different topics.

[Lilli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Absolute fire

[Julie Sappington · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gentle history indeed.

[Blair · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is divided into two sections; the first is a very general history of mathematics, starting with the Ancient Egyptians and Babylonians, and ending with the modern era, and the second is a series of "sketches," each of which explores a specific topic, such as numeration systems or non-Euclidian geometry. I enjoyed the first half of the book, I think it contained the right amount of detail, though it is Eurocentric, as the authors acknowledge themselves. The sketches, however, I found very hard to understand and not very fun to read. That might just be due to my overall lack of mathematical knowledge though.

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great book if you are looking for a brief overview of the history of math. The book is divided into sketches that cover a certain subject, like the history of 0, as well as a few problems that drive home the concept. It was really interesting to read all of the answers to the questions I had in high school, but i never thought anyone could answer. A great read, but could have used a little more details and examples.

[Jesse Broussard · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nothing remarkable. Fairly accurate, with an anti-christian bias.

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

It flows well, but is far from interesting. I knew it wouldn't be in depth, but I was at least hoping for some of the more interesting math stories to go along with the math and history.