Men of Mathematics Volume Two

by Eric Temple Bell

Genres: Mathematics, Biography

324 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1937

About the author

Eric Temple Bell (February 7, 1883 – December 21, 1960) was a mathematician and science fiction author born in Scotland who lived in the U.S. for most of his life. He published his non-fiction under his given name and his fiction as John Taine.

Reviews

[Brooke · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a series of biographies and stories of mathematicians, this book is quite good, it takes much time to look at each mathematician and the context of their lives in the rest of the development of mathematics. The attempt of teaching basic outlines of the mathematics being discussed is appreciated, and is fitted perfectly between discussions of the history.

Unfortunately Bell takes a subtle but apparent view of the history of mathematics through a Great Man Theory lens. Perhaps it's just a result of discussing exclusively important mathematicians, but I found some occasional remarks very off-putting, not to mention the fact that Bell was a large anti-Semite, which fortunately only rarely seeps through into the book.

It's a good book about important and inspiring people, if you can get past the odd remark or two, I would recommend the book

[Arthur Kyriazis · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book is superb.

it is an excellent introduction to not just mathematics but to the history of mathematics.

A great book!

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Essentially the same thoughts of the first volume. Added an extra star because Bell indeed does touch on controversies that still bother us till this day, and makes a fine treatment of them. It might even be said that while he may have embellished in the first volume, in the second volume (especially in the latter half of it) he may in fact play down just how controversial some things were. And in a certain way the mathematicians in the second volume are less well-known, but ought to be more so.